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ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 



OTHER BOOKS BY 

HORACE KEPHART 

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Illustrated, $2.50 net 

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OUTING ADVENTURE LIBRARY 

ADVENTURES IN 
MEXICO 

By GEORGE FREDERICK ^RUXTON 

Author of *ln the Old West'' 

From Vera Cruz to Chihuahua in 
the Days of the Mexican War 



EDITED BY 

HORACE KEPHART 




NEW YORK 

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 

MCMXV 



F/Z'3 



Copyright, 1915, by 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 



All rights reserved. 



ii^ 


FEB ! i9IC 


Ji.A4 18654 


'H-t ,/ . 



INTRODUCTION 

The first volume of this Library of Adventure 
was a description of trapper life in " The Old 
West " by George Frederick Ruxton. The author 
of that remarkable book made the second of his 
three visits to America in 1846-4*7, this time land- 
ing at Vera Cruz, and travelling on horseback 
from the city of Mexico northward to Santa Fe, 
about 2,000 miles as the trail bore. He then 
pushed on to the Rocky Mountains, where he lived 
the life of a free hunter until it was time to return 
to England, which he did by way of St. Louis and 
New York. In the spring of 1848 he published 
a narrative of his adventures that was pronounced 
by the most exacting of London critics " one of 
the most fascinating volumes which of late years 
has issued from the press." 

Ruxton arrived at Vera Cruz in August, 1846, 
and proceeded by way of Jalapa to the city of 
Mexico. From a mysterious allusion that he 
makes in his preface to the circumstances under 
which he determined to traverse the war-torn re- 
public, and from the cordiality with which he was 
received by Mexican officials — at times they even 



6 INTRODUCTION 

furnished him a military escort — one may guess 
that he had a mission of more consequence than 
merely to satisfy a thirst for adventure; but, if 
so, its object has never been revealed. 

After staying in the capital a few days, Ruxton 
set forth on a long horseback journey to the north- 
ward. Mexico was a particularly dangerous 
country to explore. Its highways were infested 
with robbers almost to the portals of the capital. 
The northern region was overrun by hostile In- 
dians. To make matters worse, Mexico was en- 
gaged in war with the United States, and every 
English-speaking person coming into the country 
was taken for '' a Texan, a Yankee, a jackass," 
to be treated accordingly. More than once Rux- 
ton's own life was put in peril by his being mis- 
took for one of those malditos Americanos, 

The route at first followed the mountains, as 
the rainy season had set in covering the plains with 
water; but soon it was found practicable to de- 
scend into the charming champaign of the Rio 
Lerma. Passing along the edge of the upheaved 
volcanic region of Jorullo, Ruxton arrived at 
Queretaro without any incident more exciting 
than his " standing off " a band of highwaymen. 
Through the plains of Silao to Zacatecas, and by 
way of Fresnillo, he reached Durango, the Ultima 
Thule of " civilized " Mexico. 



INTRODUCTION 7 

Finding nobody else who dared accompany him 
into the wild, Indian-haunted country beyond 
Durango, he had to put up with a known ruffian 
as his Sancho Panza. Scarcely had they made 
a good start before this worthy tried to assas- 
sinate his employer that he might make off with the 
animals and outfit. Ruxton, instead of being dis- 
mayed at this unauspicious beginning of their ac- 
quaintanceship, thrust a pistol in the fellow's face, 
disarmed him, flogged him into submission, and 
then made him proceed to carry out his contract 
as guide and servant. All the way to Chihuahua 
the days were full of anxieties, and the nights gave 
constant practice in the art of " sleeping with one 
eye open." 

Having passed through this desolate and sav- 
age land, which to Europeans was known only as 
a blank spot on the map, the adventurer reached 
Chihuahua in November, none the worse for hard- 
ships of the trail, but rather stimulated to go on 
and finish the task he had set himself to perform. 

At Chihuahua we leave him, for the present ; for, 
although still a long way from the United States 
boundary line, he now began to encounter Ameri- 
cans, and the narrative assumes another aspect. 
How he continued his perilous jornadas, and what 
adventures befel him as a mighty hunter in the 
Far West, will be told in the next volume of this 



8 INTRODUCTION 

Library, under title of " Wild Life in the Rocky 
Mountains." 

Our author belonged to that picked company of 
born explorers who not only know how to observe 
but how to fare in wild regions and to endure. 
Nothing came amiss : he was equally at home in 
mansion or hovel, or bedded on the bare earth of 
a cold and wind-swept plain. He was, too, a citi- 
zen of the world, with a happy aptitude for as- 
similating with any company that chance might 
offer. Tactful but dauntless, he could go any- 
where — alone if need be — and " get through." 
Nothing escaped his shrewd powers of observa- 
tion, to which were joined a knack of vivid descrip- 
tion and a hearty sense of humor that enliven 
every situation in which he was thrown. There 
was a hard vein in him, however, like that which 
showed in nearly all our old frontiersmen (we wish 
he had not kicked the crippled lepero, or expressed 
regret at not having killed the unsuspecting 
Comanche chief), but that very hardness was often 
priceless amid the dangers and difficulties that be- 
set his path. 

Ruxton wrote without prejudice, except where 
Spanish priests were concerned, yet his picture 
of average Mexican character is a sombre one. 
His reflections on the character and institutions 
of Mexico are peculiarly apposite to events of the 



INTRODUCTION 9 

present-day. Up to the time of his visit this un- 
happy country had suffered two hundred and 
thirty-seven revolutions ! It reminds one of what 
is related by the Spanish poet Quevedo, who, so 
he says, having descended into hell on a tour of 
inspection, asked to see the place appropriated 
to kings. He was shown a small apartment ten- 
anted by only a few wretched spirits. On his re- 
marking that there did not appear to be many of 
them, the attendant demon indignantly replied, 
" Fool ! these are all that ever reigned.*' 

In the present edition of Ruxton's book, trans- 
lations of Spanish words and phrases have been 
added where they did not occur in the original, 
and the Spanish, if not anglicised, has been itali- 
cised throughout, instead of being printed some- 
times in italics but oftener in Roman characters, 
as in the English edition. The text is given in 
full, with no changes but the necessary corrections, 
and the elision of a few paragraphs, that add noth- 
ing to the interest of the work. 

HOEACE KePHART. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

Some apology, I am aware, is necessary for of- 
fering so meagre an account of Mexico as that 
which is set before the reader in the following 
pages. In justice to myself, however, I may state 
that all the notes and memoranda of the country 
I passed through, as well as several valuable and 
interesting documents and MSS. connected with 
the history of Northern Mexico and its Indian 
tribes, which I had collected, were unfortunately 
destroyed (with the exception of my rough note- 
book) in passing the Pawnee Fork of the river Ar- 
kansas, as I have mentioned in the body of this 
narrative ;* and this loss has left me no alternative 
but to give a brief outline of my journey, which, 
bare as it may be, I prefer to lay before the reader 
in its present shape, rather than draw at hazard 
from the treacherous note-book of memory, or the 
less reliable source of a fertile imagination. 

It is hardly necessary to explain the cause of 
my visiting Mexico at such an unsettled period; 

* See Chapter XIV of the next volume of this series, 
"Wild Life in the Rocky Mountains." (^Ed.) 

n 



1^ AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

and I fear that circumstances will prevent my 
gratifying the curiosity of the reader, should he 
feel any on that point. 

This little work is merely what its title professes 
it to be, " The Rough Notes of a Journey through 
Mexico, and a Winter spent amongst the wild 
scenes and wilder characters of the Rocky Moun- 
tains," and has no higher aim than to give an idea 
of the difficulties and hardships a traveller may an- 
ticipate, should he venture to pass through it and 
mix with its semi-barbarous and uncouth people, 
and to draw a faint picture of the lives of those 
hardy pioneers of civilization whose lot is cast 
upon the boundless prairies and rugged mountains 
of the Far West. 

With a solitary exception I have avoided touch- 
ing upon American subjects; not only because 
much abler pens than mine have done that country 
and people more or less justice or injustice, and I 
wish to attempt to describe nothing that other 
English travellers have written upon before, and 
to give a rough sketch of a very rough journey 
through comparatively new ground — but, more 
than all, for the reason that I have, on this and 
previous visits to the United States, met with such 
genuine kindness and unbounded hospitality from 
all classes of the American people, both the richest 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 13 

and the poorest, that I have not the heart to say; 
one harsh word of them or theirs, even if I could 
or would. 

Faults the Americans have — and who have not ? 
But they are, I maintain, failings of the head and 
not the heart, which nowhere beats warmer, or in 
a more genuine spirit of kindness and affection, 
than in the bosom of a citizen of the United States. 

Would that I could say as much of the sister 
people. From south to north I traversed the 
whole of the Republic of Mexico, a distance of 
nearly two thousand miles, and was thrown 
amongst the people of every rank, class, and sta- 
tion ; and I regret to have to say that I cannot re- 
member to have observed one single commendable 
trait in the character of the Mexican; always ex- 
cepting from this sweeping clause the women of the 
country, who, for kindness of heart and many 
sterling qualities, are an ornament to their sex, 
and to any nation. 

If the Mexican possess one single virtue, as I 
hope he does, he must keep it so closely hidden in 
some secret fold of his sarape as to have escaped 
my humble sight, although I travelled through his 
country with eyes wide open, and for conviction 
ripe and ready. I trust, for his sake, that he will 
speedily withdraw from the bushel the solitary 



U AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

light of his concealed virtue, lest before long it be 
absorbed in the more potent flame which the Anglo- 
Saxon seems just now disposed to shed over be- 
nighted Mexico. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTEB 

I Southampton to Barbadoes 

II The Ever-faithful Isle 

III First Glimpse of Mexico 

IV The Patriotic Tinman 
V Gentlemen of the Road 

VI As CoRTEZ Saw It . 

VII High Life and Low 

VIII Hitting the Trail . 

IX The Land of Pulque 

X Mules and Marauders 

XI In the Mining Country 

XII Trials of the Boad , 

XIII When the Indians Come 

XIV The Unchanging Mexican 

XV The Edge of Civilization 

XVI A Thirsty Land 

XVII The Lost Americans . 

XVIII King of the Mine . 

XIX The Barbarians of the North 



PAGE 

. 17 

. 26 

. 35 

. 44< 

. 54 

. 69 

. 81 

. 99 

. lis 

. 127 

. 142 

. 166 

. 177 

. 188 

. 201 

. 217 

. 235 

. 258 

. 278 



ADVENTURES IN 
MEXICO 

CHAPTER I 

SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 

ON the 2nd of July [1846], at 1 p.m., the 
royal mail-packet steamed out of South- 
hampton Water. For three hours we 
had been in the usual state of confusion attending 
the sailing of a packet on a long voyage. Being 
the first on board, and having no friends with long 
faces and handkerchiefs to their eyes to distract 
my attention, I had leisure to look about me, and 
survey the different passengers as they came on 
board, in every stage of delight and despair. 
Some there were who possibly had set their feet 
for the last time on their native shore, and had in 
perspective a tropical futurity, with sugar-hogs- 
heads, cocoa-nuts, and vomitc * in the distance. 

*The black vomit of yellow fever; here denoting the 
fever itself. {Ed.) 

17 



18 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

Others again were homeward bound, delighted to 
turn their backs on the suicidal mists of the isle 
of vapors, and revelling in anticipated enjoyment 
of the fiery paradise beyond the sea. Red and 
swollen eyes, however, were in a decided majority; 
and as the steam hissed and snorted, so did faces 
become more elongated, and the corners of mouths 
take a downward angle. 

At length the ominous bell gave notice that the 
moment of parting had arrived. Fathers and 
mothers, brothers and sisters, and lovers with quiv- 
ering lip, for the last time embraced; the tender 
cast off her hawser, and the huge steamer was 
speeding on her way. And now solitary figures 
with swollen eyes leaned over the taffrail, gazing 
intently towards the land, and at the little speck 
dancing on the waves, which was bearing so 
quickly away loved objects, seen by many of them 
for the last time. 

Our passengers comprised a motley group: 
Creoles of the West India islands and the main, 
Spaniards of Havana, French of Martinique and 
Gaudaloupe, Danes of St. Thomas, Dutch of 
Cura9oa, Portuguese of Madeira, Jamaica Jews, 
merchants of Costa Rica, military officers, and 
emigrating Yorkshire farmers, were amongst the 
various items of the human freight. 

However, forty-eight hours' shaking together 



SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 19 

amalgamated the mass ; and when that number of 
hours and a southerly course had carried us into 
a smooth sea and heavenly climate, all sorrows 
were for the time forgotten. A Jamaica Jew had 
taken up a position on the cabin skylight, where, 
with a pack of cards and a pile of gold before him, 
he every day, and all day long, officiated as 
dueno of a monte-table; a little Rabbi, throwing 
aside his sacerdotal cares, and shining in glossy 
black, superintending the receipts and disburse- 
ments of the bank. The provideur, who by the 
way was the life of the ship, was already chalk- 
ing on the deck a marine billiard-table ; and under 
his direction and tuition, English and French, 
Spaniards and Dutch, were soon engaged in mo- 
mentous matches, on which depended many a bot- 
tle of iced champagne. 

These amusements, combined with a vast deal 
of eating, drinking, and smoking, fortunately pre- 
served us in good humor for six days; when, just 
as shovel-board had lost its charms, champagne 
its flavor, and the monte Israelite his customers, 
the welcome cry of " Land ho ! " at midnight on 
the 12th, turned out all hands on deck ; and there, 
looming in the misty distance on our starboard 
bow, lay Puerto Santo, part and parcel of " soft " 
Madeira. 

When I rose the next morning we were standing 



20 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

into Funchal Roads, and shortly after came to 
anchor within three-quarters of a mile of the shore 
and opposite the town of Funchal. At this dis- 
tance the island, rising to a great elevation from 
the water's edge, with the town, washed by the At- 
lantic, at its base, and innumerable white houses, 
with here and there a convent's spires, dotted up 
the sides, resembles a scene of a gigantic pano- 
rama, with every object so clearly displayed to the 
eye, and fore and back ground of deep-blue sky 
and azure sea. 

On landing in one of the country boats, as soon 
as the keel had touched the beach, a cavalcade of 
horsemen, mounted on handsome active ponies, 
charged to the very water's edge, and, nearly tram- 
pling us in their furious onslaught, reined up sud- 
denly, bringing their steeds on their haunches. 
Our first thought was instant flight; but, finding 
their object was pacific, we learned that this Arab- 
like proceeding was for the purpose of displaying 
the merits of their cattle, and to tempt us to en- 
gage in an equestrian expedition up the mountain. 
Selecting three promising-looking animals, and 
preceded by their funnel-capped proprietors as 
guides, we proceeded to the town. 

Funchal in no degree differs from any sea or 
river side town in Portugal. The Funchalese are 
Portuguese in form and feature; the women, if 



SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 21 

possible, more ordinary, and the beggars more im- 
portunate and persevering. The beach is covered 
with plank sleds, to which are yoked most comical 
little oxen no larger than donkeys. In these sleds 
the hogsheads of wine are conveyed to the boats, 
as they are better adapted to the rough shingle 
than wheeled conveyances. To a stranger the 
trade of the town appears to be monopolised by 
vendors of straw hats and canary-birds. These 
articles of merchandise are thrust into one's face 
at every step. Sombreros are pounded upon your 
head; showers of canaries and goldfinches, with 
strings attached to their legs, are fired like rockets 
into your face ; and the roar of the salesmen deaf- 
ens the ear. 

Ascending the precipitous Truas [roads], we 
soon reach the suburbs, our guides holding on by 
the tails of the horses to facilitate their ascent. 
Still mounting, we pass where vines are trellised 
over the road; sweet-smelling geraniums, helio- 
trope, and fuchsias overhang the garden-walls on 
each side; whilst, in the beautiful little gardens 
which everywhere meet the ej^e, the graceful ba- 
nana, the orange-tree and waving maize, the tropi- 
cal aloe and homely oak, form the most pleasing 
contrasts and enchant the sight. Winding still up 
the mountain-side, the interminable stone-paved 
suburb is passed; but even whilst toiling over the 



2^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

uneven slippery pavement, and sitting in an almost 
vertical saddle, hanging on to the mane like grim 
death, it is impossible to whisper an imprecation, 
everything around is so soft and pleasing; and, 
malgre lui, one (even if he be an Englishman) has 
not the heart to growl or complain. 

Here the vivid colorings of a tropical scene 
blend in harmony with the sober tints of a more 
temperate landscape. By the orange and leaf- 
spreading banana grow the oak and apple; the 
cactus and the daisy bloom together ; the luscious 
pine and humble potato yield their fruit ; and, side 
by side with the golden-colored canary, the robin 
redbreast warbles his sweet and weU-known song. 

The sides of the mountain are clothed with vines, 
and numerous streamlets trickle along the road- 
side, cooling the air with their refreshing mur- 
murs; whilst a mountain torrent here and there 
forces its impetuous way. The paths which wind 
along the mountain overhang precipices lined with 
foliage, and water everywhere glitters through the 
verdure and relieves the eye. In the valleys are 
seen delicious nooks, green and cool, shadowed by 
the lofty rocks, with picturesque cottages and 
smiling gardens, and scenes of such quiet beauty 
as one never tires to gaze upon. Turning in your 
saddle, you see the town of Funchal at your feet, 
reflected in the smooth and glittering sea. The 



SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 23 

vessels In the roads appear no larger than fishing- 
boats; and the huge steamer, lying lazily at her 
anchor, will be the victim of a malediction, that it 
is so soon to bear you away from this sweet island. 

The sun too is not the fireball of the tropics, or 
even the heat-engendering luminary we have left 
behind us, but shines faintly bright through a dim 
soft mist ; and while sweet-smelling flowers dispense 
their odors around, and the notes of song-birds 
are heard on every side, the air breathes soft and 
soothingly. . . . 

On leaving Madeira we had thirteen days of 
most monotonous steaming, during which a most 
universal ennui prevailed on board, relieved occa- 
sionally by the outbreakings of some wooer of the 
fickle goddess, whose winnings or losings had been 
more than usually great, and consequently occa- 
sioned a greater or less amount of self-gratulation 
or excitement. When every mortal means of 
amusement was supposed to have been exhausted, 
it was providentially discovered that the Rabbi 
was in the habit of slaying with his own hand, 
and according to the strict letter of the Mosaic 
law, the ducks, fowls, and sheep which he desired 
to devour. 

The day after the discovery the butcher was 
seen to approach the Rabbi with some mysterious 
communication, who immediately tucked up his 



24 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

sleeves, took a knife which was handed to him by 
the butcher, and accompanied that functionary to 
the hen-coops. 

In an instant the quarter-deck was deserted; 
every passenger stealthily took up a position 
where he could witness the mysterious catastrophe. 
The Rabbi, with upturned wristbands, carefully 
kneaded the breasts of several fowls which were 
offered to his knife by the butcher, and at length, 
selecting one whose condition was undeniable, cast- 
ing up his eyes and invoking Moses to give him the 
requisite nerve, he administered the mystic stab, 
and instantly retreated. As a reward for the 
excitement he had caused, I noticed that at dinner 
that day the Rabbi received most friendly offers 
of ham and roast pork. 

On the thirteenth morning after leaving Ma- 
deira the low regular outline of Barbadoes was 
visible on the horizon. This island exhibits less 
tropical scenery than any other in the West In- 
dies, being less mountainous, and the plains and 
hills cultivated in every part, and consequently 
the bush is cleared off to make way for agricul- 
tural improvements. It is not, however, the less 
beautiful on this account; and everywhere the 
snug-looking houses of the planters, with mills and 
sugar-houses, and all the appliances of thriving 
plantations, were seen as we hugged the shore. 



SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 25 

On landing I found myself, very fortunately 
and unexpectedly, amongst many old friends, 
whose hospitality I enjoyed during my stay at the 
island. . . . 

I found nothing striking in Barbadoes but the 
sun, which is a perpetual furnace, and the pep- 
per-pot — a dish to the mysteries of which I was 
initiated here for the first time. It is a delicious 
compound of flesh, fish, and fowl, pique with all 
the hot peppers and condiments the island pro- 
duces, and mystified in a rich black sauce. The 
flavor of this wonderful dish is impossible to de- 
scribe. Imagine a mass of cockroaches stewed 
in pitch, and a faint idea may be had of the ap- 
pearance and smell of the savory compound. 

Of Bridgetown, the capital, the less said the 
better. It is infested with a most rascally and im- 
pudent race of negroes, who almost resort to vio- 
lence to wrench unwilling pistareens from the 
stranger's pocket. Just before my arrival half the 
town had most providentially been destroyed by 
fire, so that, if rebuilt, hopes are entertained of a 
more respectable-looking place being erected. 



CHAPTER II 

THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE 

THE next island touched at was Grenada, 
one of the most picturesque of the An- 
tilles. The little harbor is completely 
land-locked, and, as it were, scooped out of the side 
of the mountain, which rises from the water's edge. 
An old green fort, perched upon a crag, com- 
mands the anchorage, and the little town, inter- 
spersed with palm-trees and aloes, appears to be 
crawling up the mountain. Here we remained but 
a few hours, and steered thence to San Domingo, 
one of the largest of the group. Coasting along, 
it presented a bold imposing outline of rugged 
mountains covered with forests, and but little ap- 
pearance of cultivation. Staying but a few hours 
at Jacmel, to receive and deliver mails, we soon 
came in sight of Jamaica, with its fine bold scenery 
of mountain and valley; and threading the in- 
tricate and dangerous reefs, and passing the forts 
and batteries of Port Royal, we anchored about 
noon off Kingston, the chief town of the island. 

Here we left the greater part of our fellow-pas- 
26 



THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE m 

sengers, including the card-playing Jew and the 
Rabbi. The former left the steamer minus several 
hundred pounds by his monte speculation, the 
greater part of which had been won by two boys 
from Birmingham, who were on their way to Ha- 
vana to set up a cooperage. Elated with their (to 
them) enormous gains, they, in honor of the occa- 
sion, sacrificed too freely to the rosy god, the con- 
sequence of which was that in a few weeks both 
were carried off by the relentless vomito. 

A couple of days spent amongst the killbucra * 
and sopilotes * of Uppark rendered my regret at 
leaving Jamaica anything but poignant ; and tak- 
ing leave of the dusty dirty town of Kingston, 
with its ruinous houses and miserable population, 
in a few days we were coasting along the south 
side of Cuba, passing Cape Antonio and the Isle 
of Pines, once famous, or rather infamous, as the 
resort of pirates, who infested these seas until 
within a few years, and still the rendezvous of 
equally nefarious slavers. 

La Havana — the Haven — is one of the finest 
harbors in the world, and capable of holding a 
thousand vessels. It is completely land-locked, 
and the entrance so narrow that vessels must pass 
within musket-shot of the " Morro," whose frown- 

*A yellow flower, which is said to be more abundant 
during sickly seasons. The sopilote is the turkey-buzzard. 



^8 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

ing batteries look down on the very decks. Be- 
sides the Morro, the formidable batteries of the 
Principe and La Cabana show their teeth on each 
side, and numerous detached works crown every 
eminence. 

The Spaniards may well be jealous of Cuba, 
which, with their usual fanfaron (just, however, in 
this case), they style " La joya mas hrillante en la 
corona de Espana, the most brilliant jewel in the 
crown of Spain." This, the last of their once 
magnificent dependencies, they may well guard with 
watchful eye; for not only do the colonists most 
cordially detest the mother country, and only wait 
an opportunity to throw off the yoke, but already 
an unscrupulous and powerful neighbor " of the 
north " casts a longing eye towards this rich and 
beautiful island. 

The cruel dissensions and bloody revolutions 
which have so long convulsed unfortunate Spain 
have seldom extended their influences to this re- 
mote colony. Cuba, content in her riches and 
prosperity, has looked calmly on, indifferent to 
the throes which have agonized the maternal frame. 
Her boastful sobriquet, " Siempre fiel isla de Cuba 
— the ever-faithful island of Cuba " — has thus 
been cheaply earned, and passively retained by the 
ironical Havaneros, who will assuredly one day 
pluck out from the Spanish crown this " fine 



THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE 29 

jewel," or suffer it to be transferred to a for- 
eign bonnet. 

The harbor has been so often described that it 
is needless to dilate upon its beauties. In one 
corner is a rank mangrove swamp which exhales 
a fatal miasma, and which, wafted by the land- 
breeze over the town and shipping, is one great 
cause of the deplorable mortality which occurs 
here in the sickly season. Havana is quite a Span- 
ish town, and reminded me of Cadiz more than any 
other. It is, however, cleaner and better regu- 
lated, with a very efficient police. The streets 
are narrow, as they ought to be in hot countries, 
and towards the evening thronged with volantes, 
a light spider-like carriage peculiar to Cuba, 
freighted with black-eyed beauties on their way to 
the paseo, shopping, or to Dominica's, the cele- 
brated neveria or ice-shop, where they very prop- 
erly pull up " a refrescar un tantito — to cool the 
courage " — before " showing " on the excitable 
paseo. 

From seven to ten the Paseo Tacon is thronged, 
and a stranger had better pause before he runs 
the gauntlet of such batteries of eyes and fans as 
he never before, in his northern philosophy, 
thought or dreamed of. The ladies dress in white, 
with their beautiful hair unsacrificed by bonnet, 
and, if ornamented, by a simple white or red rose, 



30 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

a la moda Andalu^a, However perfect may be 
their figures, you see them not. One's gaze is con- 
centrated in their large lustrous eyes, which, when 
you get within their reach, swallow you up as the 
sun swallows a comet when he is rash enough to 
approach too near, throwing you out again, a 
bumt~up cinder, to be resuscitated and reburned 
by the next eyes which pass. The Havaneras cer- 
tainly surpass the Spaniards in the beauty of their 
eyes, if that be possible. 

With their eyes and ahanicos (fans) the Ha- 
vaneras have no need of tongues ; which, however, 
they can use on emergencies. Whereas every 
pretty woman can in some degree " make the eyes 
speak," no other than a Spanish beauty can use 
a fan. This is to them the idioma de amor — the 
language of love. Assisted by the eye it is elo- 
quence itself, and in the hands of a coquette, like 
a gun in the hands of a careless boy, is a most 
dangerous weapon. To see this language spoken 
in perfection, visit the theatre Tacon, which by the 
way is the prettiest theatre in the world. Here, 
between the acts, nothing is heard but the click- 
ing of fans, whilst cross fires of lightning-glances 
pierce one through and through. The front of 
the boxes in the Tacon is of light open work, 
through which the light dresses of the ladies are 
seen, and which has a very pretty effect. Unlike 



THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE 31 

the boxes of our opera, which invidiously conceal 
all but the beauties " above the zone," here the 
whole figure, simply draped in white is fully dis- 
played. Foreigners say that an Englishwoman 
should never be seen but in an opera-box ; and the 
Spaniards affirm that, whereas an " Englishwoman 
should be seen at the window, and a Frenchwoman 
promenading, the gods have vouchsafed that a 
Spaniard may be looked at everywhere :" " La 
Ynglesa en la ventana, la Francesca paseandose, 
la Espanola, por onde se quiere." 

Three miles from Havana is El Cerro, where the 
wealthy merchants have their country seats, and 
resort with their families during the sickly season. 
The fronts of these houses are completely open, 
save by light bars, so that at night, when lighted 
up, the whole interior is perfectly displayed. 
Night is the fashionable time for visiting; and 
through this open birdcage-work may be seen a 
formal row of males in front of the ladies, for here, 
in this excitable climate, it is deemed imprudent 
to bring into actual contact such substances as 
flint and steel, or fire and tow. 

After four days' stay in Havana, I again em- 
barked on board the steamer, and in such a storm 
of thunder and rain as I shall never forget. I en- 
gaged a shore-boat manned by two mulattos, and 
before we could reach the steamer the hurricane 



32 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

broke upon us. The lightning appeared actually 
to rain down, the flashes being incessant, whilst the 
r'ain descended with such violence as nearly to fill 
and swamp the boat. The boatmen swore and 
cursed, and crouched under the thwarts ; the sail 
and mast were blown clean away; and for more 
than an hour we were unable to face the storm. 
At length, taking advantage of a lull, we managed 
to reach the vessel, and after a vexatious delay of 
several hours got under weigh. 

On passing the Morro, we were hailed and or- 
dered to bring to, whilst, at the same moment, a 
boat, with a corporal and three men, put off from 
the castle, and boarded us. We had on board a 
great number of passengers on their way to 
Mexico, and many were probably leaving Cuba 
without the necessary passport, so that, on the 
arrival of the boat, many olive-colored gentlemen 
with moustaches dived suddenly below, being seized 
with a sudden desire to explore the hold and other 
cavernous portions of the ship. However, in a few 
minutes all the passengers were mustered on deck 
by the captain, and their names called. As one 
unlucky Spaniard answered to his name, the cor- 
poral stepped up to him, laying his finger on his 
shoulder, with " En el nomhre del gohernador — 
in the name of the governor." " A su disposicion, 
amigo — at your service, friend " — answered the 



THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE 33 

captured one, and, quietly lighting his cigar, de- 
scended into the guard-boat with his trunk, en 
route to the dungeons of the Morro. " Vwa! " 
exclaimed the Spaniards : " maldito sea el despota 
— curse the despot " ; and, breathing freely, re- 
lighted their puros, and indulged in a little abuse 
of their colonial government. 

The day after our departure from Havana we 
overtook a small steamer under the British flag, 
which was pronounced to be the Arab, having on 
board the ex-President of Mexico, General Santa 
Anna. As she signalled to speak, we bore down 
upon her, and, running alongside, her captain 
hailed to know if we would take on board four 
passengers ; which was declined, our skipper not 
wishing to compromise himself with the American 
blockading squadron at Vera Cruz, by carrying 
Mexican officers. We had a good view of Santa 
Anna, and his pretty young wife, who, on hearing 
our decision, stamped her little foot on the deck, 
and turned poutingly to some of her suite. It 
seemed that the Arab had disabled her machinery, 
and was making such slow progress that Santa 
Anna was desirous of continuing the trip in the 
Medway. He was provided with a passport from 
the government of the United States to enable him 
to pass the blockade; which very questionable 
policy on the part of that government it is difficult 



34 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

to understand; since they were well aware that 
Santa Anna was bitterly hostile to them, whatever 
assurances he may have made to the contrary; 
and at the same time was perhaps the only man 
whom the Mexican army would suffer to lead them 
against the American troops. 

On the fifth morning after leaving Havana, at 
6 A. M., we made the land, and were soon after 
boarded by one of the American blockading squad- 
ron — the corvette St. Mary's, It was expected 
that Santa Anna was on board, and the officer said 
that instructions had been received to permit him 
to enter Vera Cruz. 

At 7 we passed the castle of San Juan de Ulloa, 
and anchored off the city of the True Cross, or, 
as it is often and most aptly called " ha Cmdad de 
los Muertos " — The City of the Dead. 



CHAPTER III 

FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 

VIRA CRUZ derives its name from the 
first city built on this continent by 
Cortes, in 1519-20. La vUla rica de la 
Vera Cruz — the rich city of the True Cross — 
was situated a few miles to the north-east of the 
present city, and was built by the conquistador as 
a garrison on which to fall back, in case his expedi- 
tion into the interior proved a failure. 

From the sea the coast on each side the town 
presents a dismal view of sandhills, which appear 
almost to swallow up the walls. The town, how- 
ever, sparkling in the sun, with its white houses 
and numerous church-spires, has rather a pictur- 
esque appearance ; but every obj ect, whether on 
sea or land, glows unnaturally in the lurid atmos- 
phere. It is painful to look into the sea, where 
shoals of bright-colored fish are swimming; and 
equally painful to turn the eyes to the shore, where 
the sun, refracted by the sand, actually scorches 
the sight, as well as pains it by the quivering 

glare which ever attends refracted light, 

35 



S6 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

The city is well planned, surrounded by an 
adobe wall, with wide streets crossing each other at 
right angles. There are also several large and 
handsome buildings fast mouldering to decay. 
One hundred years ago a flourishing commercial 
city, like everything in Spanish America, it has 
suffered from the baneful effects of a corrupt, im- 
potent government. Now, with a scanty popu- 
lation, and under the control of a military despot- 
ism, its wealth and influence have passed away. 
The aspect of the interior of the town is dreary 
and desolate beyond description. Grass grows 
in the streets and squares ; the churches and pub- 
lic buildings are falling to ruins : scarcely a human 
being is to be met, and the few seen are sallow and 
lank, and skulk through the streets as if fearing 
to encounter, at every comer, the personification 
of the dread vomit o, which at this season (August) 
is carrying off a tithe of the population. Every- 
where stalks the sopilote (turkey-buzzard), sole 
tenant of the streets, feeding on the garbage and 
carrion which abound in every corner. 

The few foreign merchants who reside there, 
remove their families to Jalapa in the season of 
the vomito, and all who have a few dollars in their 
pockets betake themselves to the temperate re- 
gions. The very natives and negroes are a cadav- 
erous stunted race; and the dogs, which contend 



FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 37 

in the streets with the sopilotes for carrion, are the 
most miserable of the genus cur. Just before my 
window one of these curs lay expiring in the middle 
of the street. As the wretched animal quivered 
in the last gasp, a sopilote flew down from the 
church-spire, and, perching on the body, com- 
menced its feast. It was soon joined by several 
others, and in five minutes the carcass was de- 
voured. These disgusting birds are, however, 
useful scavengers, and, performing the duty of 
the lazy Mexicans, are therefore protected by 
law. 

The town still presents numerous souvenirs of 
the bombardment by the warlike De Joinville in 
1839. The church-towers are riddled with shot, 
and the destructive effects of shells still visible in 
the heaps of ruins which have been left untouched. 
Since my visit it has also felt the force of American 
ire, and withstood a fierce bombardment for several 
days, with what object it is impossible to divine, 
since a couple of thousand men might have at any 
time taken it by assault. The castle was not at- 
tacked, and was concluded in the capitulation with- 
out being asked for — cosa de Mexico.^ The 
town was attacked by the American troops under 
General Scott within ten months after my visit. 
It suffered a bombardment, as is well known, of 

* In the Mexican way. {Ed.) 



38 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

several days, an unnecessary act of cruelty in my 
opinion, since, to my knowledge, there were no de- 
fences round the city which could not have been 
carried, including the city itself, by a couple of 
battalions of Missouri volunteers. I certainly left 
Vera Cruz under the impression that it was not a 
fortified place, with the exception of the paltry 
wall I have mentioned, which, if my memory serves 
me, was not even loopholed for musketry. How- 
ever, temporary defences might have been thrown 
up in the interval between my visit and the Ameri- 
can attack ; still I cannot but think that the bom- 
bardment was cruel and unnecessary. The castle 
could have been carried by a frigate's boarders, 
having but seven hundred naked Indians to defend 
it.* 

At the moment of my arrival there was no little 
excitement in Vera Cruz. The siempre heroica — • 
always heroical city and castle — had pronounced 
for the immortal saviour of his country, as they 

* Three or four months after Ruxton's visit, and six or 
seven months before Scott's attack, the city, according to 
the Mexican minister of war, was garrisoned by a force 
of 3,360 men, with 144 pieces of artillery; and at San Juan 
de Ulloa there were 1,030 men and 135 mounted guns. 
Before the Americans arrived the city was surrounded by 
bastions terminating in two forts, and the garrison was 
reinforced. General Scott captured some 5,000 prisoners 
and 400 pieces of ordnance. (Ed.) 



FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 39 

styled Santa Anna ; forgetting, in their zeal, that 
twelve months before they had kicked out the same 
worthy, heaping every opprobrious epithet and 
abuse that Mexican facultad de lengua could de- 
vise. Moreover, the hero was hourly expected, and 
great preparations were on hand for his recep- 
tion. 

With this object the crack regiment of the 
Mexican army, el onze — the 11th — which hap- 
pened to be in garrison at the time cut most pro- 
digious capers in the great plaza several times 
a-day, disciplinando — drilling for the occasion. 
Nothing can, by any possibility, be conceived more 
unlike a soldier than a Mexican militar. The 
regular army is composed entirely of Indians — 
miserable-looking pigmies, whose grenadiers are 
five feet high. Vera Cruz, being a show place, and 
jealous of its glory, generally contrives to put 
decent clothing, by subscription, on the regiment 
detailed to garrison the town ; otherwise clothing is 
not considered indispensable to the Mexican sol- 
dier. The muskets of the infantry are (that is, if 
they have any) condemned Tower muskets, turned 
out of the British service years before. I have 
seen them carrying firelocks without locks, and 
others with locks without hammers, the lighted end 
of a cigar being used as a match to ignite the 



40 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

powder in the pan. Discipline they have none. 
Courage a Mexican does not possess ; but still they 
have that brutish indifference to death, which 
could be turned to account if they were well led, 
and officered by men of courage and spirit. 

Before delivering my letters I went to a fonda 
or inn kept by a Frenchman, but in Mexico-Span- 
ish style. Here I first made acquaintance with 
the frijole, a small black bean, which is the main 
food of the lower classes over the whole of Mexico, 
and is a standing dish on every table, both of the 
rich and poor. The cuisine, being Spanish, was 
the best in the world, the wine good, and abundance 
of ice from Orizaba. Amongst the company at the 
fonda was a party of Spanish padres, a capellan of 
a Mexican regiment, and a Capuchin friar. . . . 

The next day I accompanied this clerical party 
to the castle of San Juan de UUoa, which we were 
allowed to inspect in every part. I thought it 
showed very little caution, for I might have been 
an American for all they knew to the contrary. 
The fortress is constructed with considerable skill, 
but is in very bad repair. It is said to mount 350 
pieces of artillery, many of heavy calibre, but is 
deficient in mortars. The garrison did not amount 
to more than 700 men, although they were in 
hourly expectation of an attack by the American 
squadron; and such a miserable set of naked ob- 



FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 41 

jects as they were could scarcely be got together 
in any other part of the world. 

Our party was ciceroned by an aide-de-camp of 
the governor, who took us into every hole and 
corner of the works. The soldiers' barracks were 
dens unfit for hogs, without air or ventilation, and 
crowded to suffocation. 

In one of the batteries were some fine 98- 
pounders, all English manufacture, but badly 
mounted, and some beautiful Spanish brass guns. 
Not the slightest discipline was apparent in the 
garrison, and scarcely a sentinel was on the look- 
out, although the American squadron was in sight 
of the castle, and an attack was hourly threatened. 
On the side facing the island of Sacrificios the de- 
fences were very weak; indeed, I saw no obstruc- 
tion of sufficient magnitude to prevent half a dozen 
boats' crews making a dash in the dark at the 
water-batteries, where at this time were neither 
guns nor men, nor one sentry whose post would 
command this exposed spot; thence to cross the 
ditch, which had but two or three feet of water 
in it, blow open the gate of the fortress with a bag 
of powder, and no organised resistance could be 
dreaded when once in the castle. 

I pointed this out to one of the officers of the 
garrison. He answered, " No hay cuidado, no hay 
cuidado! somos muy valientes, — Never fear, never 



4a ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

fear ! we are very brave here." " Si quieren los 
Americanos, qwe vengan — If the Americans like 
to try, let them come." 

As we returned at night to Vera Cruz, a dull 
yellowish haze hung over the town. I asked the 
" patron " of the boat what it was. Taking his 
cigar from his mouth, he answered quite seriously, 
" Senor, es el "oomito — it's the fever." 

There is a very good market at Vera Cruz : the 
fish department is well worth a visit. At sunrise 
the Indian fishermen bring in their basket-loads, 
which they pile on the ground; and the beautiful 
and varied tints of the fish, which exhibit all the 
colors of the rainbow, as well as the fish them- 
selves, of all shapes and sizes, form a very pleasing 
sight. Two hours after sunrise the fish are all 
sold or removed : indeed, if not immediately cooked 
they will putrify in a few hours. 

The vegetable-market is well supplied, and ex- 
hibits a great variety of tropical fruits. The In- 
dians of the tierra caliente *' are neither pictur- 
esque in dress nor comely in appearance. They 
are short in stature, with thick clumsy limbs, broad 
faces without any expression, and a lazy sullen 
look of insouciance. They are, however, a harm- 
less, inoffensive people, and possess many good 
traits of character and disposition. In the mar- 

* Hot coast lands. {Ed.) 



FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 43 

ket devoted to flesh and fowl, parrots form a 
staple commodity. They are brought in in great 
numbers by the Indians, who lay great store on a 
talking-bird, " un papagaya que habla." Pec- 
caries, deer, and huge snakes I also saw exposed 
for sale. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE PATRIOTIC TINMAlf 

ON the 16th of August the castle, with a 
salvo of artillery, announced the ap- 
proach of the steamer having on board 
the illustrious ex-President — General Santa 
Anna. At 9 p. m. el Onze marched down to the 
wharf with colors flying and band playing. Here 
they marched and countermarched for two hours 
before a position was satisfactorily taken up. An 
officer of rank, followed by a most seedy aide-de- 
camp, both mounted on wretched animals, and 
dressed in scarlet uniforms of extraordinary cut, 
caracolled with becoming gravity before the 
adiiana or customhouse. A most discordant band 
screamed national airs, and a crowd of boys 
squibbed and crackered on the wharf, supplied 
with fireworks at the expense of the heroic city. 
By dint of cuffing, el Onze was formed in two lines 
facing inwards, extending from the wharf to the 
palacio, where apartments had been provided for 
the General. Santa Anna landed under a salute 

from the castle, and walked, notwithstanding his 

44 



THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 45 

game leg, preceded by his little wife, who leaned 
on the arm of an officer, through the lane of 
troops, who saluted individually and when they 
pleased, some squibbing off their firelocks, and 
others, not knowing what to do, did nothing. 

Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna is a hale- 
looking man between fifty and sixty, with an Old 
Bailey countenance and a very well built wooden 
leg. The Senora, a pretty girl of seventeen, 
pouted at the cool reception, for not one mfvu was 
heard; and her mother, a fat, vulgar old dame, 
was rather unceremoniously congeed from the pro- 
cession, which she took in high dudgeon. The 
General was dressed in full uniform, and looked 
anything but pleased at the absence of everything 
like applause, which he doubtless expected would 
have greeted them. His countenance completely 
betrays his character: indeed, I never saw a 
physiognomy in which the evil passions, which he 
notoriously possesses, were more strongly marked. 
Oily duplicity, treachery, avarice, and sensuality 
are depicted in every feature, and his well-known 
character bears out the truth of the impress his 
vices have stamped upon his face. In person he is 
portly, and not devoid of a certain well-bred bear- 
ing which wins for him golden opinions from the 
surface-seeing fair sex, to whom he ever pays the 
most courtly attention. 



46 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

If half the anecdotes are true which I have heard 
narrated by his most intimate friends, any office 
or appointment in his gift can always be obtained 
on application of a female interceder ; and on such 
an occasion he first saw his present wife, then a 
girl of fifteen, whom her mother brought to the 
amorous President, to win the bestowal upon her 
of a pension for former services, and Santa Anna 
became so enamoured of the artless beauty, that 
he soon after signified his gracious intention of 
honoring her with his august hand. . . . 

Aug. 17.— We had an emeute amongst the Vera- 
Cruzanos. As I was passing through the great 
plaza, a large crowd was assembled before the 
Casa de Ayuntamiento, or town-hall. Accosting 
a negro, who, leaning against a pillar, was calmly 
smoking his paper cigar, a quiet spectator of the 
affair, I inquired the cause of the riotous proceed- 
ing. " No es mucho, caballero; un pronuncia- 
miento, no mas,^' he answered — " nothing, sir, 
nothing, only a revolution." On further inquiry, 
however, I learned that the cause of the mob as- 
sembling before the ayuntamiento was, that the 
people of Vera Cruz willed that one of that body 
should, as their representative, proceed to the 
palace to lay before Santa Anna a statement of 
certain grievances which they required should be 
removed. Not one relished the idea of bearding 



THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 4T 

the lion in his den, although supposed at this mo- 
ment to be on his good behavior ; but one Sousa, a 
native of Vera Cruz, and by trade a tinman, 
stepped forth from the crowd and declared himself 
ready to speak on the part of the people. 

They had previously clamored for Santa Anna 
to show himself in the balcony of the palace, but 
he had excused himself on the plea of being unable 
to stand on account of his bad leg, and said he 
was ready at any time to receive and confer with 
one of their body. Sousa, the volunteer, at once 
proceeded to the palace, and without ceremony en- 
tered the General's room, where Santa Anna was 
sitting surrounded by a large staff of general of- 
ficers, priests, &c. Advancing boldly to his chair, 
he exclaimed, " Mi General, for more than twenty 
years you have endeavored to ruin our country. 
Twice have you been exiled for your misdeeds: 
beware that this time you think of us, and not of 
yourself only ! " 

At this bold language Santa Anna's friends ex- 
pressed their displeasure by hissing and stamping 
on the floor; but Sousa, turning to them with a 
look of contempt, continued : " These, General, are 
your enemies and ours ; ?/ mas, son traidores - — 
and more than this, they are traitors. They seek 
alone to attain their ends, and care not whether 
they sacrifice you and their country. They will 



48 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

be the first to turn against you. Fara nosotros, 
Vera-Cru^anos qui somos — for us, who are of 
Vera Cruz — -what we require is this: remove the 
soldiers ; we do not want to be ruled by armed sav- 
ages. Give us arms, and we will defend our town 
and our houses, but we want no soldiers." 

Santa Anna, taken aback, remained silent. 

" Answer me. General," cried out the sturdy 
tinman : " I represent the people of Vera Cruz, 
who brought you back, and will be answered." 

" To-morrow," meekly replied the dreaded ty- 
rant, " I will give orders that the troops be re- 
moved, and you shall be supplied with one thousand 
stand of arms." " Estd hueno, mi General — • it is 
well. General " — answered Sousa, and returned to 
the mob, who, on learning of the result of the con- 
ference, filled the air with vvvas, 

" Valgame en DiosI " exclaimed my friend the 
negro ; " que Jiombre tan osado es este! — what 
pluck this man must have to open his lips to the 
Presidente 1 " 

The next morning Santa Anna left Vera Cruz 
for his hacienda — Manga del Clavo — first caus- 
ing a manifiesto to be published, declaring his views 
and opinions with regard to the present critical 
state of aifairs. This paper was very ably writ- 
ten by Rincon, and exhibited no little cleverness 
of composition, inasmuch as great tact was re- 



THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 49 

quired, owing to the numerous tergiversations of 
Santa Anna, to steer clear of such subjects as 
would compromise his present declaration in favor 
of federalism, to which he has hitherto been strenu- 
ously opposed. In it he declares his determina- 
tion to prosecute to the last the war with the 
United States, and his willingness to sacrifice his 
life and fortune in defence of his country; depre- 
cates the notion of foreign intervention, and scouts 
at the idea of the " monarchial question " being 
introduced into any political discussion. In con- 
clusion, he earnestly besought his countrymen to 
arm against the common foe. 

Two or three days after my arrival in Vera 
Cruz, suspicious rumors of vomito reached my ears, 
and caused me to pack up my traps ; and having 
determined to ride to Jalapa, instead of travelling 
by the lumbering diligencia [stage coach], my 
hospitable entertainers, on learning my intention, 
immediately made arrangements for a supply of 
cavalry, and placed me under the charge of a con- 
fidential servant of the house, who was to pilot me 
to Jalapa. 

About 4 P.M. on the 19th of August, Castillo 
made his appearance, with a couple of horses 
equipped in Mexican style, himself attired in a 
correct road costume — black glazed sombrero 
with large brim and steeple crown, ornamented 



50 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

with a band of silver cord and silver knob on the 
side; blue jacket with rows of silver buttons, and 
fancifully braided; calzoneras or pantaloons of 
velveteen, very loose, and open from the hip-bone 
to the bottom of the leg, the outside ornamented 
with filagree buttons ; under these overalls, the 
calzoncillas or loose drawers of white linen ; boots 
of untanned leather, with enormous spurs, buckled 
over the instep by a wide embroidered strap, and 
with rowels three inches and a half in diameter; 
a crimson silk sash round his waist, small open 
waistcoat exhibiting a snow-white shirt, a puro in 
his mouth, and a quarta or whip hanging by a 
thong from his wrist. Such was Castillo, not for- 
getting, however, that in person he was comely 
to look upon, and, living in an English house, was 
no libel upon his excellent cuisine, carrying a most 
satisfactory corporation and a fat good-humored 
face. 

A common way of traveling in the tierra caliente 
is by littera, a litter carried between two mules, in 
which the traveller luxuriously reclines at full 
length, sheltered from the rain and sun by curtains 
which enclose the body, and smokes or reads at his 
pleasure. In one of these, about to return empty 
to Jalapa, I despatched my baggage, consigning a 
change of linen to Castillo's alforjas or saddle- 
bags. At 4 P.M. we trotted out of Vera Cruz, 



THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 51 

and, crossing the sandy plain outside the town, 
pulled up at an Indian hut where Castillo informed 
me it was necessary to imbibe a stirrup-cup, which 
was accordingly presented by an Indian Hebe, who 
gave us a " buen mage " in exchange for the 
clacos * we paid for the mezcal. The road here 
left the sandy shore, and turned inland, through a 
country rank with tropical vegetation, with here 
and there an Indian hut — a roof of palm-leaves 
supported on bamboo poles, and open to the wind 
— peeping out of the dense foliage. 

We presently came to a part of the road cut 
up and flooded by the heavy rains which towards 
sunset poured mercilessly upon us, but not before 
Castillo had thrust his head through the slit in his 
sarape, and, with shoulders protected by his broad- 
brimmed sombrero, defied the descending waters. 
Not so my unlucky self, who, green as yet in the 
mysteries of Mexican travelling, had not provided 
against aqueous casualties, and in a few seconds 
my unfortunate Panama was flapping miserably 
about my ears, and my clothes as drenched as 
water could make them. However, there was no 
remedy, and on we floundered, through pools of 
mud and water full of ducks and snipe and white 
herons; the road becoming worse and worse, and 
the rain coming down with undeniable vigor. Just 

* Pieces of one-eighth of a dollar. {Ed.) 



52 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

before sunset we overtook the rear-guard of the 
valiant Eleventh, which that day had marched from 
Vera Cruz en route to the seat of war, for the 
purpose, as one of the officers informed me, " dar 
un golpe a los Norte Americanos — to strike a 
blow at the North Americans." 

The marching costume of these heroes, I 
thought, was peculiarly well adapted to the climate 
and season — a shako on the head, whilst coat, 
shirt, and pantaloons hung suspended in a bundle 
from the end of the firelock carried over the shoul- 
der, and their cuerpos * required no other cov- 
ering than the coatings of mud with which they 
were caked from head to foot, singing, however, 
merrily as they marched. 

Night now came on, and pitchy dark, and the 
road was almost impassable from the immense herds 
of cattle which literall3^ blocked it up. The 
ganado f all belonged to Santa Anna, whose es- 
tate extends for fifty miles along the road, and 
bore the well-known brand of A. L. S. A. — alstty 
or forward, as the Mexicans read it, which are the 
initials of the General Antonio Lopez de Santa 
Anna. Finding it utterly impossible to proceed, 
we stopped at the first Indian hut we came to, 

* Cuerpos — bodies. 

i[^ Ganado mayor — cattle; ganado menor — sheep and 
pigs. 



THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 53 

where we secured our animals in a shed, and, in 
company with the rear-guard of the Onze, who 
arrived shortly after, made ourselves uncomfor- 
table for the night. 

The next morning, before daylight, we were in 
our saddles, the rain still descending in torrents. 
** No hay remedio — there's no help for it " — said 
Castillo ; " we had better push on : " and on we 
splashed. " Hi esta muy huen conac — very good 
brandy up there " — he remarked, after we had 
ridden a few miles ; and, dashing the spurs into his 
beast, darted up a hill to a house, and called for 
a tumbler of brandy and milk, which was not un- 
palatable after our wet ride. . . . 



CHAPTER V 

GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 

THE weather clearing, we resumed our 
journey, and halted to breakfast at 
Puente Nacional, once del Rey. 

The bridge, built of stone, spans a picturesque 
torrent, now swollen and muddy with the rains. 
The village is small and dirty, with a tolerable inn, 
where the diligencia stops. Here we were regaled 
with frijoles [corn pancakes] and chile Colorado 
[a dish highly seasoned with red pepper], and 
waited upon by a very pretty Indian girl. 

The scenery is wild and desolate ; the vegetation, 
although most luxuriant, looks rank and poisonous, 
and the vapors, which rise from the reeking under- 
growth, bear all kinds of malaria over the country. 
Few villages are met with, and these consist of 
wretched hovels of unbumt brick (adobe), or huts 
of bamboo and palm-leaf. Each has its little patch 
of garden, where the plantain, maize, and chile 
are grown. Strings of the latter invariably hang 
on every house, and with it, fresh or dried, the 

people season every dish. The land appears good, 

54 



GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 55 

but, where everything grows spontaneously, the 
lazy Indian only cares to cultivate sufficient for 
the subsistence of his family. The soil is well 
adapted for the growth of cotton, sugar, and 
tobacco. I asked a farmer why he did not pay 
more attention to the cultivation of his land. 
" Quien sabe,'^ was his answer ; " con maiz y chile, 
no falta nada — who wants more than corn and 
chile, vayaf " 

" These men are brutes," put in Castillo ; " ni 
mda sahen — they don't know even what it is to 
live;" just then a hiftek a la Ynglesa in the 
kitchen of la casa in Vera Cruz occurring to his 
mind's eye. 

When we turned out after breakfast we found 
the heavy rolling clouds clearing off, and the sun 
shining brightly from a patch of deep blue. 

" Ya viene huen tiempo [we shall have good 
weather]," prophesied our host, as he held my stir- 
rup ; and for once he was a true prophet, for we 
had six or eight hours' magnificent weather, during 
which the sun dried our clothes, and baked the 
mud upon them, and we were enabled to keep our 
cigars alight, which, in the morning was an im- 
possibility. The road was wretched, although it 
has been called by an ingenious traveller " a mon- 
ument of human industry ; " a monument of human 
ignorance and idleness would be the better term. 



56 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

On each side the scenery was the same — a sea of 
burning green. Now, however, the woods were 
alive with birds of gaudy plumage: cardinals, and 
catbirds, and parrots, with noisy chatter, hopped 
from tree to tree; every now and then, the Mex- 
ican pheasant — chachalaca — a large noble bird, 
flew across the road; and chupamirtos (humming- 
birds) darted to and fro. The pools were black 
with ducks, cranes, and bitterns ; the air alive with 
bugs and beetles ; and in the evening cocuyos (fire- 
bugs) illuminated the scene. Mosquitos were 
everywhere, and probed with poisonous proboscis 
every inch of unprotected skin. 

At sunset we reached El Plan del Rio, a miser- 
able venta [hostelry], which we found crowded 
with cavalry soldiers and their horses, so that we 
had great trouble in finding room for our own ani- 
mals. This hostelry belonged to the genus meson, 
a variety of the inn species to be found only in 
Mexico. It was, however, a paradise compared 
to the mesones north of the city of Mexico ; and I 
remember that I often looked back upon this one, 
which' Castillo and I voted the most absolutely mis- 
erable of inns, as a sort of Clarendon or Mivart's. 
Round the corral, or yard, where were mangers 
for horses and mules, were several filthily dirty 
rooms, without windows or furniture. These were 
the guests' chambers. Mine host and his family 



GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 57 

had separate accommodations for themselves of 
course ; and into this part of the mansion Castillo 
managed to introduce himself and me, and to pro- 
cure some supper. 

The chambermaid — who, unlocking the door of 
the room apportioned to us, told us to beware of 
the mala gente (the bad people) who were about 
— was a dried-up old man, with a long grizzled 
beard and matted hair, which fell, guiltless of comb 
or brush, on his shoulders. He was perfectly hor- 
rified at our uncomplimentary remarks concerning 
the cleanliness of the apartment, about the floor 
of which troops of fleas were caracolling, while 
flat odoriferous bugs were sticking in patches to 
the walls. My request for some water for the pur- 
pose of washing almost knocked him down with the 
heinousness of the demand; but when he had 
brought a little earthenware saucer, holding about 
a tablespoonful, and I asked for a towel, he stared 
at me open-mouthed without answering, and then 
burst out into an immoderate fit of laughter. 
" Ay que homhre, Ave Maria Purissima, que loco 
es este! — Oh, what a man, what a madman is this ! 
Serinlleta, panuela, toalla, que demonio quiere? — 
towel, napkin, handkerchief — what the devil does 
he want ? " — repeating the different terms I used 
to explain that I wanted a towel. 

** Ha, ha, ha! es medio-tonto, es medio-tonto — 



58 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

a half-witted fellow, I see. Que demonio! quiere 
agua, quiere toalla! — what the d — ^1! he wants 
water, towels, everything. Adios! " 

El Plan del Rio is situated in a circular valley 
or basin, surrounded by lofty hills, which are cov- 
ered with trees. An old fort crowns the summit 
of a ridge on the left of the road, whence a beauti- 
ful view is had of the valley, which is the exact 
figure of a cup. We were now constantly ascend- 
ing, and, leaving behind us the tierra caliente [hot 
zone], were approaching the more grateful climate 
of the tierra templada, or temperate region. At 
Los Dos Rios we had a good view of the Peak of 
Orizaba, with its cap of perpetual snow ; and, still 
ascending, the scenery became more varied, the air 
cooler, and the country better cultivated; oaks 
began to show themselves, and the vegetation be- 
came less rank and more beautiful. Presently, 
cresting a hill, before us lay beautiful Jalapa, em- 
bosomed in mountains and veiled by cloud and mist. 

Jalapa, the population of which is nearly 17,- 
000, is situated at the foot of Macultepec, at an 
elevation of 4335 feet above the level of the sea. 
Unfortunately this elevation is about that which 
the strata of clouds reach, when, suspended over 
the ocean, they come in contact with the ridge of 
the Cordillera, and this renders the atmosphere ex- 
ceedingly humid and disagreeable, particularly in 



GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 59 

north-easterly winds. In summer, however, the 
mists disappear, the sun shines brightly, and the 
sky is clear and serene. At this time the climate 
is perfectly heavenly; the extremes of heat and 
cold are never experienced, and an even genial tem- 
perature prevails, highly conducive to health and 
comfort. Fever is here unknown; the dreaded 
*Domito never makes its appearance on the table- 
land ; and, in spite of the humid climate, sickness is 
comparatively rare and seldom fatal. The aver- 
age temperature is 60° to Qt^° in summer. 

There are seasons, however, when Jalapa pre- 
sents a direct contrast to such a picture. Heavy 
dense clouds envelop, as in a shroud, the entire 
landscape; a floating mist hangs over the town; 
and the rolling vapors, which pour through the 
valley, cause a perpetual cMpi-chipi, as this driz- 
zling rain is termed. The sun is then for days 
obscured, and the Jalapeno, muffled in his sarape, 
smokes his cigarro, and mutters, " Ave Maria 
Purissima, que venga el sol! — O for a peep at the 
sun, Holy Virgin ! " 

On a bright sunny day the scenery round Jalapa 
is not to be surpassed: mountains bound the hori- 
zon, except on one side, where a distant view of the 
sea adds to the beauty of the scene. Orizaba, with 
its snow-capped peak, appears so close that one 
imagines it is within reach ; and rich and evergreen 



60 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

forests clothe the surrounding hills. In the fore- 
ground are beautiful gardens, with fruits of every 
clime — the banana and fig, the orange, cherry, 
and apple. The town is irregularly built, but pic- 
turesque ; the houses are in the style of Old Spain, 
with windows to the ground, and barred, in which 
sit the Jalapenas, with their beautifully fair com- 
plexions and eyes of fire. 

" Las Jalapenas son muy halaguenas " is a say- 
ing common in Mexico ; and bewitching they are, 
even with their cigaritos, which make a good foil 
to a pretty mouth. Here is still preserved some 
of the sangre azul, the blue blood of Old Castile. 
Many of the Jalapa women are dazzlingly fair, 
whilst others are dark as a Malaguefia. In the 
fonda [hotel] Vera Cruzana, where I put up, and 
advise all travellers to do the same, were two 
daughters of mine host — one as fair as Jenny 
Lind, the other dark as Jephtha's daughter, and 
both very pretty. Although the proverb says 
" Vent era hermosa^ mal para la holsa — a pretty 
hostess gives no change " — here it is an exception ; 
and my friend Don Juan will take good care of 
man and beast, and charge reasonably. 

Near Jalapa are two or three cotton-factories, 
which I believe pay well. They are under the man- 
agement of English and Americans. The girls 
employed in the works are all Indians or Mestizas, 



GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 61 

healthy and good-looking. They are very apt 
in learning their work, and soon comprehend the 
various uses of the machinery. In the town there 
is but little to see. The church is said to have 
been founded by Cortez, and there is also a Fran- 
ciscan convent. However, a stranger is amply in- 
terested in walking about the streets and market, 
where he will see much that is strange and new. 
The vicinity of Jalapa, although poorly cultivated, 
produces maize, wheat, grapes, jalap (from which 
plant it takes its name) ; and a little lower down 
the Cordillera grow the vanilla, the bean which is 
so highly esteemed for its aromatic flavor, and 
fruits of the temperate and torrid zones. 

On inquiry as to the modes of travelling from 
Jalapa to the city of Mexico, I found that the 
journey in the diligencia to the capital was to be 
preferred to any other at this season, on account 
of the rains ; although by the former there was 
almost a certainty of being robbed or attacked. 
So much a matter of course is this disagreeable 
proceeding, that the Mexicans invariably calculate 
a certain sum for the expenses of the road, includ- 
ing the usual fee for los cahalleros del camino 
[knights of the road]. All baggage is sent by the 
arrieros or muleteers, by which means it is ensured 
from all danger, although a long time on the road. 
The usual charge is twelve dollars a carga, or 



62 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

mule-load of 200 lbs., from Vera Cruz to the 
capital, being from ten to twenty days on the road. 
The Mexicans never dream of resisting the rob- 
bers, and a coach-load of nine is often stopped and 
plundered by one man. The ladrones [thieves], 
however, often catch a Tartar if a party of for- 
eigners should happen to be in the coach ; and but 
the other day, two Englishmen, one an officer of 
the Guards, the other a resident in Zacatecas, be- 
ing in a coach which was stopped by nine robbers 
near Puebla, on being ordered to alight and hoca- 
haxo — throw themselves on their noses — replied 
to the request by shooting a couple of them, and, 
quietly resuming their seats, proceeded on their 
journey. 

During my stay two English naval officers ar- 
rived in the diligencia from Mexico. As they 
stepped out, bristling with arms, the Mexican by- 
standers ejaculated, " Valgame Dios! What men 
these English are! Esos son hombres! — These 
are men ! " The last week the coach was robbed 
three times, and a poor Gachupin, mistaken for an 
Englishman, was nearly killed, the robbers having 
vowed vengeance against the palefaces for the 
slaughter of their two comrades at Puebla; and a 
few months before, two robbers crav/led upon the 
coach during the night, and, putting a pistol 
through the leathern panels, shot an unfortunate 



GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 63 

passenger in the head, who, they had been in- 
formed, carried arms, and was determined to resist. 
There is not a travelling Mexican who cannot nar- 
rate to you his experiences on " the road ; " and 
scarcely a foreigner in the country, more particu- 
larly English and Americans, who has not come to 
blows with the ladrones at some period or other 
of his life. 

Such being the satisfactory state of affairs, be- 
fore starting on this dangerous expedition, and 
particularly as I carried all my baggage with me 
(being too old a soldier ever to part with that), 
assisted by mine host Don Juan, I had a minute in- 
spection of arms and ammunition, all of which 
were put in perfect order. One fine morning, 
therefore, I took my seat in the diligencia, with a 
formidable battery of a double-barrel rifle, a ditto 
carbine, two brace of pistols, and a blunderbuss. 
Blank were the faces of my four fellow-passengers 
when I entered thus equipped. They protested, 
they besought — every one's life would be sacri- 
ficed were one of the party to resist. " Senores,^^ 
I said, " here are arms for you all : better for you 
to fight than be killed like rats." No, they washed 
their hands of it — would have nothing to do with 
gun or pistol, " Vaya: no es el costumbre — it is 
not the custom," they said. 

From Jalapa the road constantly ascends, and 



64> ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

we are now leaving the tierra templada, the region 
of oaks and liquid amber, for the still more elevated 
regions of the tierra fria — called cold, however, 
merely by comparison, for the temperature is equal 
to that of Italy, and the lowest range of the ther- 
mometer is 62°. The whole table-land of Mexico 
belongs to this division. The scenery here becomes 
mountainous and grand; and on the right of the 
road is a magnificent cascade, which tumbles from 
the side of a mountain to the depth of several 
hundred feet. The villages are few, and fifteen or 
twenty miles apart, and the population scanty and 
miserable. No signs of cultivation appear, but 
little patches of maize and chile, in the midst of 
which is an Indian hut of reeds and flags. 

In the evening we passed through a fine plain 
in which stands the town and castle of Perote, and 
near which is the celebrated mountain of basaltic 
porphyry, which, from the singular figure of a 
rock on its summit, is called " El Coffre," the 
chest. The castle of Perote is the " Tower " of 
Mexico. In it are confined the unlucky chiefs 
whom revolutions and counter-revolutions have 
turned upon their backs. The late President 
Paredes was at this time confined within its walls ; 
and would have, in a day or two, the pleasure of 
seeing Santa Anna (who himself has been a resi- 
dent here) pass in state to resume the reins of 



GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 65 

government. However, in this country, over- 
turned presidents, et hoc genus omne, are always 
well treated, since it is the common fate of them 
all to be set up and knocked down like ten-pins, 
and therefore they have a fellow-feeling for each 
other in their adversity. 

In Perote the houses present to the street a 
blank wall of stone without windows, and one large 
portal, which leads to the 'patio-corral, or yard, 
round which are the rooms. This shows the want 
of security, where every man's house is indeed his 
castle. From Perote the dangerous road com- 
mences, and it is necessary, as the conductor in- 
formed me, tener mucho cuidado — to keep a sharp 
look-out. 

We left Perote at four in the morning; conse- 
quently it was quite dark ; and, as morning dawned, 
the first objects that met our view were the nu- 
merous little crosses on the roadside, many of them 
making the places where unfortunate travellers 
had been murdered. These crosses, however, have 
not always so bloody a signification, being placed 
in the road oftentimes to mark the spot where a 
coffin has been set down on its way to the burial- 
ground, in order that the bearers may rest them- 
selves, or be changed for others. Every now and 
then our driver looked into the window to give no- 
tice that we were drawing near a dangerous spot. 



66 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

saying, " Ahora mal pimto, muy mal punto — now 
we are in a very bad place ; look to your arms." 

The country appeared rich and fertile, but, as 
usual, was wretchedly cultivated ; and the same mis- 
erable population of Indians everywhere. Now 
and then a Mexican proper would gallop past, 
armed to the teeth, when our conductor invariably 
demanded, " Que novedad hay? — is there any- 
thing new ? " — always having reference to the do- 
ings of the ladrones, " No hay nada — there is 
nothing stirring " — was generally the answer ; 
which could seldom be relied on, as there is hardly 
a ranchero who is not in league with the robbers, 
and our informant was most likely one of them on 
the look-out. 

At eleven we stopped to breakfast, and were 
joined by a stout wench of La Puebla, with a nut- 
brown face and teeth as white as snow. She in- 
formed us that there were muy mala gente on the 
road — very bad people — who had robbed the 
party with which she was travelling but the day be- 
fore ; and, being miiy sin vergiienza — shameless 
rascals — had behaved very rudely to the ladies 
of the party. Our buxom companion was dressed 
in true Poblana style. Her long black hair was 
combed over her ears, from which descended huge 
silver earrings ; the red enagua, or short petticoat, 
fringed with yellow, and fastened round her waist 



GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 67 

with a silk band ; from her shoulders to the waist 
a chemisette was her only covering, if we except the 
gray reboso drawn over her head and neck ; and on 
her small naked foot was a tiny shoe with silver 
buckle. 

However, we reached Puebla safe and sound, and 
drove into the yard of the Fonda de las Diligencias, 
where the coach and its contents were minutely in- 
spected by a robber-spy, who, after he had counted 
the passengers and their arms, immediately 
mounted his horse and galloped away. This is 
done every day, and in the teeth of the authorities, 
who wink at the cool proceeding. 

In a country where justice is not to be had — • 
where injustice is to be bought — where the law 
exists but in name, and is despicable and powerless, 
it is not to be wondered at that such outrages are 
quietly submitted to by a demoralized people, who 
prefer any other means of procuring a living than 
by honest work ; and who are ready to resort to the 
most violent means to gratify their insatiable pas- 
sion for gambling, which is at the bottom of this 
national evil. It is a positive fact that men of all 
ranks and stations scruple not to resort to the 
road to relieve their temporary embarrassments, 
the result of gambling; and numerous instances 
might be brought forward where such parties have 
been detected, and in some cases executed for thus 



68 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

offending against the laws. One I may mention 
— that of Colonel Yanes, aide-de-camp to Santa 
Anna, who was garrotted for the robbery and 
murder of the Swiss consul in Mexico a few years 
since. 



CHAPTER VI 

AS CORTEZ SAW IT 

PUEBLA, the capital of the intendancy of 
that name, is one of the finest cities in 
Mexico. Its streets are wide and regu- 
lar, and the houses and public buildings are sub- 
stantially built and in good taste. The popu- 
lation, which is estimated at between 80,000 and 
100,000, is the most vicious and demoralized in 
the republic. It was founded by the Spaniards 
in 1531 on the site of a small village of Cholula 
Indians, and, from its position and the fertility 
of the surrounding country, was unsurpassed by 
any other city in the Spanish Mexican dominions. 
The province is rich in the remains of Mexican 
antiquities. The fortifications of Tlaxcallan and 
the pyramids of Cholula are worthy of a visit, 
and the noble cypress of Atlixo (the ahahuete, 
cupressus disticha, Lin.) is 76 feet in circumfer- 
ence, and, according to Humboldt, the " oldest 
vegetable monument " in the world. 

At the posada at Puebla I was introduced to the 
most enormous woman I have ever seen, but unit- 

09 



70 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

ing with this awful magnitude the most perfect 
symmetry of form and feature. Her manners were 
perfectly lady-like, and she seemed in no degree 
disconcerted by her unusual size. I sat next her 
at supper, and in conversation she very abruptly 
alluded to her appearance, but with the most per- 
fect good humor. " Would you believe, cabal- 
lero," she said to me, " that there is in this very 
Puebla a girl actually fatter than I am? " 
*' Many as fat, senorita," I answered, " but " 
(perpetrating a preposterously far-fetched com- 
pliment) " few so fair." " Ah, senor, you are 
laughing at me," she said : " ya lo se bien que soy 
vaca, pero hay otra mas gorda que yo — I know 
well that I am a cow, but, thank God, there is one 
other in the world fatter than I am." 

I shuddered to see her shovelling huge masses 
of meat into her really pretty mouth, and thought 
of what the consequences would be in a few years' 
time, when her fine figure would subside into a 
mountain of flesh. 

We left Puebla early in the morning, and, as day 
broke, a scene of surpassing beauty burst upon 
us. The sun rising behind the mountains cov- 
ered the sky with a cold silvery light, against which 
the peaks stood out in bold relief, whilst the bases 
were still veiled in gloom. The snow-clad peak 
of Orizaba, the lofty Popocatepetl (the hill that 



AS CORTEZ SAW IT 71 

smokes) and Iztaccihuatl (the white woman) lifted 
their heads now bright with the morning sun. 
The beautiful plain of Cuitlaxcoapan, covered 
with golden corn and green waving maize, stretched 
away to the mountains which rise in a gradual un- 
dulating line, from which in the distance shot out 
isolated peaks and cones, all clear and well de- 
fined. 

Passing through a beautiful country, we reached 
Rio-Frio, a small plain in the midst of the moun- 
tains, and muy mal punto for the robbers, as the 
road winds through a pine-forest, into which they 
can escape in case of repulse. The road is lined 
with crosses, which here are veritable monuments 
of murders perpetrated on travellers. Here too 
we took an escort, and, when we had passed the 
piftol, the corporal rode up to the windows, say- 
ing, " Ya se retira la escolta, — the escort is about 
to retire " ; in other words. Please remember the 
guard. Each passenger presented him with the 
customary dos reales (two dollars), and the gal- 
lant escort rode off quite contented. Here too, 
all the worst puntos being passed, my companions 
drew long breaths ; muttered " Ave Maria Puris- 
sima — gracias a Dios ya no hay cuidado; " and 
lit their cigars. We soon after crested the ridge 
of the mountain, and, descending a winding road, 
turned an abrupt hill, and, just as I was settling 



72 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

myself in the corner for a good sleep, my arm was 
seized convulsively by my opposite neighbor, who, 
with half his body out of the window, vociferated : 
" Hi esta, hi esta, mire, por Dios, mire! — Look 
out, for God's sake! there it is." Thinking a 
ladrone was in sight, I seized my gun, but my 
friend, seeing my mistake, drew in his head, say- 
ing, " No, no, Mejico, Mejico, la cuidad! (No, 
no, the city of Mexico !)." 

To stop the coach and jump on the box was the 
work of a moment; and, looking down from the 
same spot where probably Cortez stood 300 years 
ago, before me lay the city and valley of Mexico, 
bathed by the soft flooding light of the setting 
sun. 

He must be insensible indeed, a clod of clay, who 
does not feel the blood thrill in his veins at the 
first sight of this beautiful scene. What must 
have been the feelings of Cortez, when with his 
handful of followers he looked down upon the 
smiling prospect at his feet, the land of promise 
which was to repay them for all the toil and dan- 
gers they had encountered! 

The first impression which struck me on seeing 
the valley of Mexico was the perfect, almost un- 
natural, tranquillity of the scene. The valley, 
which is about sixty miles long by forty in breadth, 



AS CORTEZ SAW IT 73 

is on all sides enclosed by mountains, the most 
elevated of which are on the southern side ; in the 
distance are the volcanoes of Popocatepetl and 
Iztaccihuatl, and numerous peaks of different ele- 
vation. The lakes of Tezcuco and Chalco glit- 
ter in the sun like burnished silver, or, shaded by 
the vapors which often rise from them, lie cold and 
tranquil on the plain. The distant view of the 
city, with its white buildings and numerous 
churches, its regular streets and shaded paseos 
[walks], greatly augments the beauty of the scene, 
over which floats a solemn, delightful tranquillity. 
On entering the town, one is struck with the 
regularity of the streets, the chaste architecture of 
the buildings, the miserable appearance of the 
population, the downcast look of the men, the ab- 
sence of ostentatious display of wealth, and the 
prevalence of filth which everywhere meet the eye. 
On every side the passenger is importuned for 
charity. Disgusting lepers whine for clacos 
\_tlacos, pieces of one-eighth of a dollar] : maimed 
and mutilated wretches, mounted on the backs of 
porters, thrust out their distorted limbs and ex- 
pose their sores, urging their human steeds to in- 
crease her pace as their victim increases his to 
avoid them. Rows of cripples are brought into 
the streets the first thing in the morning, and 



74j adventures in MEXICO 

deposited against a wall, whence their infernal 
whine is heard the livelong day. Cries such as 
these everywhere salute the ear : — 

" Jesws Maria Pwrissima; una corta caridad, car 
hallero, en el nomhre de la santissima madre de 
Dios: una corta caridad, y Dios lo pagara a usted 
— In the name of Jesus the son of the most pure 
Mary, bestow a little charity, my lord; for the 
sake of the most holy mother of God, bestow a 
trifle, and God will repay you." 

Mexico is the head-quarters of dirt. The 
streets are dirty, the houses are dirty, the men 
are dirty and the women dirtier, and everything 
you eat and drink is dirty. 

This love of dirt only refers to the Mexicans 
proper, since the Gachupines,* and all foreigners 
in the city, and those Mexicans who have been 
abroad, keep themselves aloof and clean. The 
streets are filled with leperos [rag-tag and bob- 
tail] and officers in uniform (pleasing themselves 
as to the style), with priests, and fat and filthy 
Capuchinos friars and monks. 

Observe every countenance; with hardly an ex- 
ception a physiognomist will detect the expression 

* The Gachupin is the term of contempt which was be- 
stowed upon the Spaniards in the War of Independence, 
and is now invariably used by the lower classes to distin- 
guish a Spaniard from a Mexican. 



AS CORTEZ SAW IT 75 

of vice, and crime, and conscious guilt in each. 
No one looks you in the face, but all slouch past 
with downcast eyes and hang-dog look, intent upon 
thoughts that will not bear the light. The shops 
are poor and ill supplied, the markets filthy in 
the extreme. Let no one with fastidious stomach 
look into the tortillerias, the shops where pastry is 
made. 

The stranger in Mexico is perpetually annoyed 
by the religious processions which perambulate 
the streets at all hours. A coach, with an eye 
painted on the panels, and drawn by six mules, 
conveys the host to the houses of dying Catholics 
who are rich enough to pay for the privilege: be- 
fore this equipage a bell tinkles, which warns the 
orthodox to fall on their knees; and woe to the 
unfortunate who neglects this ceremony, either 
from ignorance or design. On one occasion, be- 
ing suddenly surprised by the approach of one 
of these processions, I had but just time to doff 
my hat and run behind a corner of a building, when 
I was spied by a fat priest, who, shouldering an 
image, brought up the rear of the procession. As 
he was at the head of a vast crowd who were just 
rising from their knees, he thought it a good op- 
portunity of venting an anathema against a vile 
heretico. Turning first to the crowd, as much as 
to say, " Just see what a dressing I am going to 



76 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

give this fellow," he, with a most severe frown, ad- 
dressed me : — 

" Man," said he, " do you refuse to kneel to your 
God?" "No, mi padre" I answered, " pero al 
imagen de madera " — but to an image of wood. 

" Yaya^^ muttered the padre ; " lo te pagara el 
demonio — ■ the devil will pay thee " — and marched 
away. 

The cathedral is a fine large building of in- 
congruous architecture. The interior is rich in 
silver and gold candlesticks and ornaments of the 
precious metals. It is far inferior to the churches 
of Catholic Europe. I visited it during a grand 
funcion, when it was crammed with leperos and 
Indians, the odor from whose water-avoiding skins 
drove me quickly into the open air. I vainly 
searched for a Murillo, which is said to hang, un- 
noticed and unhonored, in some dark comer of 
the church. After a fruitless search of more than 
two hours, I gave it up, right glad to think that 
no production of that great master existed where 
it would not be appreciated. It is said the quan- 
tity of gold and silver plate and ornaments of 
precious stones possessed by this church are worth 
several millions sterling. They are, however, care- 
fully hidden, lest they should excite the cupidity of 
some unscrupulous president; but the gold and 
silver, etc., actually displayed, would be well 



AS CORTEZ SAW IT 77 

wortli the attention of a sacking party of Ameri- 
can volunteers, should the city of the Aztecs be 
rash enough to stand an assault. 

The interior is dark and gloomy, with the usual 
amount of tinsel and tawdry. The view, from 
the top, of the city and valley of Mexico, is very 
fine; although the old woman who keeps the key 
of the tower declares that the " msta mas her- 
mosa — the most beautiful view " — is into the 
square, where nothing is to be seen but a stand of 
hack corratelas, and the scaffolding round Santa 
Anna's statue, which has just been dragged from 
its corner, and re-erected. 

There is little or nothing in the shape of sight- 
seeing in Mexico. The national museum is worth 
a visit, as it contains a good collection of Mexican 
antiquities, of a light and trivial character, how- 
ever. I have seen no Aztecan remains which im- 
pressed me with the most distant idea that the 
ancient Mexicans possessed any of the arts of 
civilization, or were further advanced than many 
other nations of ingenious savages, who work in 
stones and feathers. In the working of stones 
they were certainly clever, and the wonder is, 
with the rude instruments they possessed, how they 
could fashion into any shape the brittle materials 
they made use of. Some masks of the human face, 
cut out of obsidian, are really well executed, as 



78 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

are also several figures of beasts, insects, and rep- 
tiles, in amethyst, agate, porphyry, serpentine, 
etc. In the court-yard of the museum is a 
colossal equestrian statue of Charles the Fourth of 
Spain. This used to ornament the great square, 
where Humboldt assisted in its erection in 1803; 
but after the War of Independence, when kings 
went out of fashion in Mexico, it was removed to 
its present site. As a whole it is a work of merit, 
and the conception good ; but possesses many glar- 
ing faults. The legs of the rider and hind quar- 
ters of the horse are out of all proportion ; never- 
theless the animal is a correct study of a Mexican 
horse. The drapery is good, and the attitude of 
the horse gives a good idea of a trotting charger. 

One of the lions here is the collection of paint- 
ings by old (?) masters, belonging to the Conde 
de Cortina. They are now removed to the 
Count's casa de campo, or country seat, at Tacu- 
baya, and enjoy the reputation of being the 
choicest gallery on the continent of America. 
Amongst them are two reputed Murillos, and some 
others attributed to the first masters. 

I gladly availed myself of an opportunity to 
inspect the collection, which, I regret to say, 
greatly disappointed me. One of the paintings 
attributed to Murillo, although of considerable 
merit, does not possess one iota of the style pecul- 



AS CORTEZ SAW IT 79 

iar to that great master; the other is manifestly 
spurious. Of the remainder I need only say that 
they have been collected at great expense, but I 
fear with little judgment. The Conde de Cortina, 
the head of an old Spanish family, has expended 
large sums of money in making this collection, 
but it is to be regretted that the agents to whom 
he intrusted the purchase of paintings have, either 
through ignorance or imposition, squandered away 
such large sums as would, if judiciously spent, 
have been sufficient to have purchased many of the 
finest pictures in Europe. 

Tacubaya is the Richmond of Mexico : villas and 
country residences abound, where the aristocracy 
resort during the hot months. The road passes 
the great aqueduct which supplies the city with 
water from a spring in Chapultepec. It is not 
strongly built, and the arches exhibit many cracks 
and fissures occasioned by the earthquakes. At 
this season the valley was partly inundated, and 
the road almost impassable to carriages. 

By this road Cortez retreated from the city on 
the memorable " noche triste" the sorrowful night. 
The fatal causeway, the passage of which was so 
destructive to the Spaniards, was probably on 
nearly the same site as the present road, but the 
latter since that period has entirely changed its 
character. On returning from Tacubaya, I visited 



80 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

the hill of Chapultepec, celebrated as being the 
site of Montezuma's palace, on which, towards the 
end of the seventeenth century, the viceroy Galvez 
erected a huge castle, the remains of which are 
now occupied by the military school. 

Far more interesting than the apocryphal tra- 
dition of the Indians' palace, the viceroy's castle, 
or the existing eyesore, is the magnificent grove of 
cypress, which outlives all the puny structures of 
man, and, still in the prime of strength and beauty, 
looks with contempt on the ruined structures of 
generation after generation which have passed 
away. 

One of these noble trees is upwards of seventeen 
yards in girth, and the most picturesque, and at 
the same time most nobly proportioned tree, it is 
possible to conceive. It rises into the sky a per- 
fect pyramid of foliage, and from its sweeping 
branches hang pendulous, graceful festoons of a 
mossy parasite. There are many others of equal 
height and beauty, but this one, which I believe 
is called Montezuma's cypress, stands more iso- 
lated, and is therefore conspicuouslj^ grand. 
From the summit of the hill, to which a path winds 
through a labyrinth of shrubs, a fine view of the 
valley and city of Mexico is obtained, and of the 
surrounding mountains and volcanic peaks. 



CHAPTER VII 

HIGH LIFE AND LOW 

THE " Paseo " is the Hyde Park of Mexico. 
Here resort, about four in the afternoon, 
all the gay and fashionable of the city. 
Coaches, built in the days of our great-grand- 
fathers, rumble along on their ponderous leathern 
springs, drawn by teams of sleek and handsome 
mules. Out of the quaint windows peep the lus- 
trous eyes of the senoritas, dressed in simple white. 
The modem European carriages of the foreign 
ministers dash past; amongst them, conspicuous 
for correctness of turn-out, the " Clarence " of her 
Britannic Majesty's representative, with his lady 
dressed a la Mexicana, and drawn by a pair of 
superb mules. Caballeros curvet on their cahallas 
de paseo — park hacks — with saddles and bridles 
worth a Jew's ransom, and all dressed para la sUla 
— for the saddle — eschewing everything in the 
shape of " tail " to their coats ; for on horseback 
the correct thing is the chaqweta, an embroidered 

jacket, alive with buttons and bullion. The som- 

81 



8^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

hrero Mexicano, and pantaloons open from the 
knee and garnished with silver buttons, and silver 
spurs of enormous size and weight, complete their 
costume. The horse appointments are still more 
costly. The saddle, the pommel and cantle of 
which are of solid silver, is embossed with the same 
metal in every part; the stirrups, covered by a 
flap of ornamented leather, and the massive bit, 
are of silver, and frequently partly of gold; and 
the reins, and every other portion of the equip- 
ment, are in similar style. After a turn or two in 
the broad drive, the carriages range up side by 
side along the road, whence their fair inmates ad- 
mire the passing dandies as they curvet past on 
their well-trained steeds. To the eye of an Eng- 
lishmlan nothing is more ridiculous than a Mexi- 
can's seat on horseback: the form of the saddle 
compels him to sit bolt upright, or rather over- 
hanging the pommel, whilst the stirrups, placed 
behind the girth, draw his legs far behind the cen- 
tre of gravity, his toes just touching the pon- 
derous stirrup. Every moment you expect him to 
fall with his nose between the horse's ears, but the 
high cantle and pommel hold him as in a vise, 
and render his being spilt anything but an easy 
matter. 

The Paseo itself is a very poor affair, and made 
still more so by two ridiculous fountains, which 



HIGH LIFE AND LOW 83 

rival in meanness the equally absurd squirts in 
our Trafalgar Square. 

The private houses in Mexico are well built and 
commodious. The exteriors of many are chastely 
and most beautifully decorated, and the rooms are 
lofty and well proportioned. The entrance is by a 
large gateway (sometimes double, the exterior one 
being of open iron-work) into the patio or court- 
yard, round which are the stables, coach-houses, 
and servants' offices. The visitor has frequently 
to thread his way through horses and mules, frisk- 
ing under the hands of grooms, mozos de caballo. 
The dwelling-rooms are on the first and upper 
stories. 

The hotels are few and wretchedly bad. The 
best is " La Gran Sociedad," under the same roof 
with the theatre " Nacional," now rechristened " of 
Santa Anna." This is the grand theatre, and is 
rather a good house, with a company of Spanish 
comedians. There is also a smaller one, devoted 
to light comedy and vaudeville. The performers 
are generally from the Havana, and occasionally 
a " star " arrives from Old Spain. 

The streets of Mexico at night present a very 
animated appearance. In the leading thorough- 
fares the tortilleras display their tempting viands, 
illuminated by the blaze from a hrazero, which 
serves to keep the tortillas and chile Colorado in a 



84j adventures IN MEXICO 

proper state of heat. To these stalls resort the 
arrieros [muleteers] and loafers of every descrip- 
tion, tempted by the shrill invitations of the pre- 
siding fair ones to taste their wares. Urchins, 
with blazing links, run before the lumbering 
coaches proceeding to the theatres. Cargadores 
— porters — stand at the corners of the flooded 
streets, to bear across the thin-booted passenger 
on their backs. The cries of the pordioseros, as 
the beggars are called from their constant use 
of " por Dios" redouble as the night advances. 
The mounted ones urge their two-legged steeds 
to cut off the crowd thronging towards the 
theatres, mingling their supplications for alms 
with objurgations on their lazy hacks. 

" Una limosnita, caballerito, por (to the car- 
gador) Malraya! piernas de piedra, anda — and- 
a-a — a small trifle, my little lord, for the sake 
of — (aside to the unfortunate porter, in a stage 
whisper) Thunder and fury, thou stony-legged 
one ! get on for the love of mercy : he is going to 
give me a claco. Ar-he — ar-r-he." 

Red-petticoated poblanas,* reboso-wrapped, dis- 
play their little feet and well-turned ankles as 
they cross the gutters; and, cigar in mouth, they 
wend their way to the fandangos of the Barrio de 
Santa Anna. From every pulque-shop is heard 

* The poblana is the manola of Mexico. 



HIGH LIFE AND LOW 85 

the twanging of guitars, and the quivering notes 
of the cantadores, who excite the guests to re- 
newed potations by their songs in praise of the 
grateful liquor. The popular chorus of one of 
these is : — 

" Sabe que es 'pulque? 

Licor divino-o! 
Lo beben los angeles 

En el sereno-o." 

Know ye what pulque is? 

Liquor divine! 
Angels in heaven 

Prefer it to wine. 

Those philosophical strangers who wish to see 
" life in Mexico " must be careful what they are 
about, and keep their eyes skinned, as they say in 
Missouri. Here there are no detective police from 
which to select a guide for the back slums — no 
Sergeant Shackel to initiate one into the mysteries 
of St. Giles's and the Seven Dials. One must de- 
pend upon his own nerve and bowie-knife, his pres- 
ence of mind and Colt's revolver: but, armed even 
with all these precautions, it is a dangerous experi- 
ment, and much better to be left alone. Provided, 
however, that one speaks the language tolerably 
well, is judicious in the distribution of his dollars, 
and steers clear of committing any act of gal- 
lantry by which he may provoke the jealousy and 



86 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

cuchillo [knife] of the susceptible Mejicano, the 
expedition may be undertaken without much dan- 
ger, and a satisfactory moral drawn therefrom. 

One night, equipped from head to foot " al 
paisano " (in the mode of the country), and accom- 
panied by one Jose Maria Canales, a worthy ras- 
cal, who in every capacity, from a colonel of 
dragoons to a horse-boy, had perambulated the re- 
public from Yucatan to the valley of Taos, and 
had inhabited apartments in the palace of the 
viceroys as well as in the Acordada, and nearly 
every intermediate grade of habitation, I sallied 
out for the very purpose of perpetrating such an 
expedition as I have attempted to dissuade others 
from undertaking. 

Our first visit was to the classic neighborhood of 
the Acordada, a prison which contains as unique 
a collection of malefactors as the most civilized 
cities of Europe could produce. On the same 
principle as that professed by the philosopher, 
who, during a naval battle, put his head into a hole 
through which a cannon-shot had just passed, as 
the most secure place in the ship, so do the rogues 
and rascals, the pickpockets, murderers, burglars, 
highwaymen, coiners, et hoc genus omne, choose to 
reside under the very nose of the gallows. 

My companion, who was perfectly at home in 
this locality, recommended that we should first visit 



HIGH LIFE AND LOW 87 

a celebrated pulqueria, where he would introduce 
me to a caballero — a gentleman — who knew 
everything that was going on, and would inform 
us what amusements were on foot on that par- 
ticular night. Arrived at the pulque-shop, we 
found it a small filthy den, crowded with men and 
women of the lowest class, swilling the popular 
liquor, and talking unintelligible slang. My 
cicerone led me through the crowd, directly up to 
a man who, with his head through a species of sack 
without sleeves, and sans chemise, was serving out 
the pulque to his numerous customers. I was in- 
troduced as " un forasterOy un caballero Yngles — 
a stranger — an English gentleman," his particu- 
lar friend. Mine host politely offered his hand, 
assured me that his house and all in it was mine 
from that hour, poured us out two large green 
tumblers of pulque, and requested us to be seated. 
It was soon known that a foreigner was in the 
room. In spite of my dress and common sarape, 
I was soon singled out. Cries of " Estrangero, 
Tejano, Yanque, hurro/' saluted me; I was a 
Texan, a Yankee, and consequently burro — a 
jackass. The crowd surrounded me, women 
pushed through the throng, a 'ver el burro — to 
look at the jackass; and threats of summary chas- 
tisement and ejection were muttered. Seeing that 
affairs began to look cloudy, I rose, and, placing 



88 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

my hand on my heart, assured the caballeros y las 
senoritas that they labored under a slight error: 
that, although my face was white, I was no Texan, 
neither was I Yankee or a jackass, but " Yngles, 
muy amigo a la republica — an Englishman, hav- 
ing the welfare of the republic much at heart " ; 
and that my affection for them, and hatred of their 
enemies, was something too excessive to express: 
that to prove this, my only hope was that they 
would do me the kindness to discuss at their leisure 
half an arroba of pulque, which I begged then and 
there to pay for, and present to them in token of 
my sincere friendship. 

The tables were instantly turned: I was saluted 
with cries of " Vwa el Yngles! Que meueren los 
Yanques! Vwan nosotros y 'pulque! — Hurrah 
for the Englishman ! Death to the Yankees ! 
Long live ourselves and pulque ! " The dirty 
wretches thronged round to shake my hand, and 
semi-drunken poblanas lavished their embraces on 
" el guero" I must here explain that, in Mexico, 
people with fair hair and complexions are called 
guero, gu^ra; and, from the caprice of human na- 
ture, the guero is always a favorite of the fair sex : 
the same as, in our country, the olive-colored 
foreigners with black hair and beards are thought 
" such loves " by our fair countrywomen. The 
guerOy however, shares this favoritism with the 



HIGH LIFE AND LOW 89 

genuine unadulterated negro, who is also greatly 
admired by the Mejicanas, 

After leaving the pulqueria, we visited, without 
suspicion, the dens where these people congregate 
for the night — filthy cellars, where men, women, 
and children were sleeping, rolled in sarapes, or in 
groups, playing at cards, furiously smoking, quar- 
relling, and fighting. In one we were attracted to 
the corner of a room, whence issued the low sobs 
of a woman, and, drawing near the spot as well as 
the almost total darkness would admit, I saw a 
man, pale and ghastly, stretched on a sarape, with 
the blood streaming from a wound in the right 
breast, which a half-naked woman was trying in 
vain to quench. He had just been stabbed by a 
lepero with whom he had been playing at cards and 
quarrelled, and who was coolly sitting within a 
yard of the wounded man, continuing his game 
with another, the knife lying before him covered 
with blood. 

The wound was evidently mortal; but no one 
present paid the slightest attention to the dying 
man, excepting the woman, who, true to her nature, 
was endeavoring to relieve him. 

After seeing everything horrible in this region 
of crime, we took an opposite direction, and, cross- 
ing the city, entered the suburb called the Barrio 
de Santa Anna, 



90 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

This quarter is inhabited by a more respectable 
class of villains. The ladrones a cahallo — 
knights of the road — - make this their rendezvous, 
and bring here the mules and horses they have 
stolen. It is also much frequented by the ar- 
rieros, a class of men who may be trusted with un- 
told gold in the way of trade, but who are, when 
not ^^ en atajo" (employed), as unscrupulous as 
their neighbors. They are a merry set and the 
best of companions on the road ; make a great deal 
of money, but, from their devotion to pulque and 
the fair sex, are always poor. " Gastar dinero 
como arriero — to spend money like an arriero " 
— is a common saying. 

In a meson [inn] much frequented by these men 
we found a fandango of the first order in progress. 
An atajo having arrived from Durango, the ar- 
rieros belonging to it were celebrating their safe 
arrival by entertaining their friends with a hayle; 
and into this my friend, who was " one of them," 
introduced me as an amigo particular — a particu- 
lar friend. 

The entertainment was al-fresco, no room in the 
meson being large enough to hold the company; 
consequently the dancing took place in the corral, 
and under the portales, where sat the musicians, 
three guitars and a tambourine, and where also 
was good store of pulque and mezcal. 



HIGH LIFE AND LOW 91 

The women, in their dress and appearance, re- 
minded me of the manolas of Madrid. Some wore 
very picturesque dresses, and all had massive orna- 
ments in gold and silver. The majority, however, 
had on the usual poblana enaugua, a red or yellow 
kind of petticoat, fringed or embroidered, over the 
simple chemisette, which, loose and unconfined, ex- 
cept at their waists, displayed most prodigally 
their charms. Stockings are never worn by this 
class, but they are invariably very particular in 
their chaussure, a well-fitting shoe, showing off 
their small well- formed feet and ankles. 

The men were all dressed in elaborate Mexican 
finery, and in the costumes of the different prov- 
inces of which they were natives. 

The dances resembled, in a slight degree, the 
fandango and arabe of Spain, but were more 
clumsy, and the pantomimic action less energetic 
and striking. Some of the dances were descrip- 
tive of the different trades and professions. El 
Zapatero^ the shoe-maker; el Sastroncito, the little 
tailor; el Espadero, the swordsman, &c., were 
amongst those in the greatest demand ; the guitar- 
players keeping time and accompanying them- 
selves with their voices in descriptive songs. 

The fandango had progressed very peacefully, 
and good humor had prevailed until the last hour, 
when, just as the dancers were winding up the 



92 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

evening by renewed exertions in the concluding 
dance, the musicians, inspired by pulque, were 
twanging with vigor their relaxed catgut, and a 
general chorus was being roared out by the romp- 
ing votaries of Terpsichore, above the din and 
clamor a piercing shriek was heard from a cor- 
ner of the corral, where was congregated a knot 
of men and women, who chose to devote themselves 
to the rosy god for the remainder of the evening, 
rather than the exertions of the dance. The ball 
was abruptly brought to a conclusion, every one 
hastening to the quarter whence the shriek pro- 
ceeded. 

Two men with drawn knives in their hands were 
struggling in the arms of several women, who 
strove to prevent their encounter — one of the 
women having received an ugly wound in the at- 
tempt, which had caused the shriek of pain which 
had alarmed the dancers. 

" Qiie es eso? — What is this? " — asked a tall 
powerful Durangueno, elbowing his way through 
the crowd. " Que quieren esos gallos? — What do 
those gamecocks want? A pelear? — To fight, 
eh? Vamos, a ver los toros! — Come, let us see 
the fun ! " — he shouted. In an instant a ring was 
formed ; men and women standing at a respectable 
distance, out of reach of the knives. Two men 
held the combatants, who, with sarapes rolled 



HIGH LIFE AND LOW 93 

round their arms, passion darting out of their 
fiery eyes, looked like two bulldogs ready for the 
fray. 

At a signal they were loosed at each other, and, 
with a shout, rushed on with uplifted knives. It 
was short work with them, for at the first blow 
the tendons of the right arm of one of them were 
severed, and his weapon fell to the ground ; and as 
his antagonist was about to plunge his knife into 
the body of his disarmed foe, the bystanders 
rushed in and prevented it, at the same moment 
that the patrulla (the patrol) entered the corral 
with bayonets drawn, and sauve-qui-peut was the 
word; a visit to the Acordada being the certain 
penalty of being concerned in a brawl where knives 
have been used, if taken by the guard. For my- 
self, with a couple of soldiers at my heels, I flew 
out of the gate, and never stopped until I found 
myself safe under the sheets, just as daybreak was 
tinging the top of the cathedral. 

Society in Mexico, although good, is not much 
sought after by the foreign residents, who have 
that resource amongst themselves; neither do the 
Mexicans themselves care to mix with those out of 
their own circle. The Mexican ladies are totally 
uneducated, and in the presence of foreigners, 
conscious of their inferiority, are usually shy and 
reserved. This of course refers only to general 



94 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

society. In their own houses, and amongst them- 
selves, they are vivacious, unaffectedly pleasing in 
their manners and conversation; and in all classes 
is evinced a warmth of heart and sympathy which 
wins for the women of Mexico the respect and 
esteem of all strangers. As for their personal at- 
tractions, I will say, that, although not dis- 
tinguished for beauty, I never once remember to 
have seen a really ugly woman. Their brilliant 
eyes make up for any deficiency of feature, and 
their figures, uninjured by frightful stays, are full 
and voluptuous. Now and then, moreover, one 
does meet with a perfectly beautiful creature ; and 
when a Mexican woman does combine such perfec- 
tion she is " some pumpkins," as the Missourians 
say when they wish to express something super- 
lative in the female line. 

For everything connected with the manners and 
mantua-making of Mexico, the reader is recom- 
mended to consult Madame Calderon de la Barca, 
who, making allowances for the coulewr de rose 
with which she tints all her pictures, is a lively 
painter of men, manners, and millinery. 

Great preparations were in progress for the 
proper reception of the great Santa Anna, who was 
daily expected to arrive in the city from the En- 
cerro, his country-house, and where, under the pre- 
tence that his leg (a never-failing resource) was 



HIGH LIFE AND LOW 95 

in such a state of inflammation that he was unable 
to travel, he had been very wisely waiting the 
course of events, until such time as the popular 
feeling should manifest itself in his favor. His 
statue, which, on the occasion of his being kicked 
out of Mexico a year before, had been consigned 
to a corner, was now restored to light, and in 
course of erection in the plaza. Painters were 
busy at the corners of the streets printing his name 
and erasing the new one, which at his last exit 
had been substituted for the numerous Calles de 
Santa Anna. 

The Teatro Nacional was once more the Teatro 
de Santa Anna. Triumphal arches were erected in 
every direction, with inscriptions laudatory of his 
achievements. One, erected on the spot where 
they, twelve months before, shut the gates on him, 
throwing his renowned leg after him, hailed him in 
enormous letters as "El benemerito de su patria: 
el immortal Salvador de la republica: el heroe de 
Tamaalipas — the hero of Tamaalipas : the immor- 
tal saviour of the republic: the man who deserved 
well of his country : the hero of a hundred fights." 
At night a crowd — hired by the friends of Santa 
Anna — perambulated the streets carrying torches 
and long stalks of maize, crying, " Viva Santa 
Anna y Mejico: meuren los estrangeros — death 
to the foreigners," &c. 



96 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

After I had been a few days in Mexico I made 
preparations for my j oumey to the north. In my 
search for horses and mules I paid a visit to the 
horse-dealing establishment of one Smith, a Yan- 
kee, and quite a character, who is making a for- 
tune in the trade of horseflesh. His stables were 
filled with nags of all sorts and sizes, and amongst 
them were some of General Taylor's troop-horses, 
belonging to a detachment of dragoons which was 
captured by the Mexicans on the Rio Grande. 
Smith, who is a hearty John-BuU-looking man, 
has the reputation with the Mexicans of being mwy 
picaro — up to snuff — as what horse-jockey is 
not? but he has all the custom of the city, and is 
of course a great authority on all subjects con- 
nected with horseflesh. A deputation had just 
waited upon him to persuade him to officiate as 
Jehu to a carriage and four which was to be de- 
spatched some ten miles out of the city to bring in 
Santa Anna. Five hundred dollars was, I believe, 
the sum offered, which the independent Smith re- 
fused, as it was a sine qtid non that he should at- 
tire himself in a General's uniform, as he called 
it, but in plain terms, what was nothing more or less 
than a chasseur's livery. 

I selected and purchased two horses from his 
stud, and better animals never felt a saddle: one 
I rode upwards of 3000 miles, and brought it to 



HIGH LIFE AND LOW 97 

the end of the j ourney without flinching ; the other, 
a little blood-horse from the tierra calientey with 
a coat as fine as silk, I was obliged to part with 
before entering the intemperate climate of New 
Mexico, where the cold would have quickly killed 
it. For mules I visited the Barrio de Santa Anna, 
the head-quarters of the arriero, where I soon pro- 
vided myself with those useful animals. 

The greatest difficulty was to procure servants, 
who were unwilling to undertake a j ourney of such 
a length, New Mexico being here quite a terra inr 
cognita, and associated with ideas of wild beasts 
and wilder Indians, and horrors of all sorts. I at 
length hired a mozo [servant] to proceed with me 
as far as Durango, 550 miles from Mexico, and 
considered the Ultima Thule of civilization. He 
was a tall shambling Mexican, from Puebla: his 
name, as usual, Jesus Maria. His certificate of 
character announced him to be " muy homhre de 
hien — very respectable, faithful, and a good road- 
servant." His wages were one dollar a-day and 
his food — " iin peso diario y la comida " — or 
nearly SOI, a-year of sterling money. 

I was so fortunate as to become acquainted with 
a young Spaniard who was about to start for the 
mines of Guadaloupe y Calvo ; and as our road as 
far as Durango was the same, we agreed to travel 
in company, which was as agreeable on the score 



98 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

of companionship, as it was advantageous in point 
of security against the attacks of robbers, who, in 
large bands, infest this road. 

We had, however, anything but a pleasant pros- 
pect before us, as the rainy season was at its 
height; the valley of Mexico was inundated, and 
the roads almost impassable. In the city of 
Mexico an inundation was dreaded. The streets 
were many of them covered with water, and the 
black mud was oozing out from between the stones 
of the pavement in every direction, showing the 
boggy nature of the foundation on which the city 
is built. 




CHAPTER VIII 

HITTING THE TRAIL 

N the 14th of September, just as a salvo 
of artillery announced the entrance of 
Santa Anna into the city, our cavalcade, 
consisting of upwards of twenty horses and mules, 
packed and loose, sallied out of the north gate, and 
entered a large common outside the city ; and then, 
once out of the streets, where they were easily 
managed, each loose horse and mule, throwing up 
its head with a grunt of pleasure at seeing the 
open country, betook itself to independent expedi- 
tions in search of grass. The mozos rushed fran- 
tically here and there to collect the scattered 
atajo [outfit]. The pack-mules threw up their 
hind legs and refused to listen to reason. A big 
beast of a mule, that was carrying my heaviest 
packs, lay down and rolled, disarranged the apa- 
rejo or pack-saddle, and oif tumbled the baggage 
into the mud ; — my rifle-case disappeared in a 
deep pool, into which my mozo dived head first 
to rescue it. By this time the other mules had 

most of them got rid of their packs and were 

99 



100 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

quietly grazing, but were at length caught and 
repacked, brought to some degree of order, and 
we resumed our journey — my mozo meeting with 
an accident which was near proving serious ; on 
attempting to remount his horse it plunged and 
threw him upon his head, and for several minutes, 
stunned by the fall, he was perfectly insensible. 
The same horse played me the same trick some 
days after. 

With mules, the first day's start is invariably a 
scene of the greatest confusion. The animals are 
wild, the pack-saddles have always something 
wanting, and the mozos half drunk and helpless. 
In a few days, however, everything is ship-shape; 
the mules become as docile as dogs, are packed 
well and quickly, and proceed along the road in 
regular order. 

After proceeding a few miles we found the coun- 
try entirely covered with water, and the road al- 
most impassable. Six miles from the city we met 
some cars floating in the road, and the carriers 
were swimming the cargoes — cases of cebo 
(grease or lard) — to a dry spot. A little far- 
ther on a carratela [coach], full of ladies, was 
stuck hard and fast in the mud ; the mules grazing 
on the road-side, iand the men away seeking as- 
sistance. A troop of donkeys carrying charcoal to 
the city presented the most absurd spectacle. The 



HITTING THE TRAIL 101 

poor patient animals were literally buried in the 
mud to their very necks, and unable to move a limb. 
There they remained, the very picture of patience, 
whilst the arrieros removed their packs and laid 
them on the mud. Our animals, being strong and 
fresh, got safely through, after a hard struggle, 
and by dint of the most incessant vociferations on 
the part of our mozos, and with the assistance of a 
score of invoked saints. 

About dusk we reached Guatitlan, a small town 
fifteen miles from Mexico, and put up in the meson, 
the corral of which was belly-deep in black mud, 
and round which were half a dozen rooms filthily 
dirty and destitute of furniture. We procured 
for supper a pipkin of rice-soup and tomatos and a 
dish of frijoles; after which, drenched to the skin 
and sleepy, I rolled myself in my wet sarape, and 
rushed into the arms, not of Somnus, but of hun- 
dreds of thousands of fleas and bugs and mos- 
quitos, whose merciless attacks continued till two 
o'clock in the morning, when, swallowing a cup of 
chocolate, we were in our saddles and on our jour- 
ney. 

Sept. 15th. — To avoid the water-covered plains 
we took the mountain-road, passing through a 
tract of country covered with lava and scoria, 
with wild and picturesque scenery. At the little 
village of Tapage we halted to breakfast, for which 



102 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

purpose, as there was no meson or public-house of 
any description, we took by storm a little mud- 
built house, where an old Indian woman was mak- 
ing tortillas at the door. Our mozos laid the vil- 
lage under contribution, and soon returned with a 
hatful of eggs, which our Indian hostess, with the 
aid of chile Colorado and garlic, converted into a 
palatable dish. 

On crossing the bridge over an arroyo [water- 
course] outside the village my attention was drawn 
to the figure of an Indian who was kneeling before 
a little cage built in the parapet of the bridge. 
Looking through the bars, I was surprised to 
see two exceedingly clever heads of Joseph 
and Mary in a framed painting. They were exe- 
cuted, the Indian informed me, by an art- 
ist who passed through Tapage a short time be- 
fore. 

The country here is very beautiful, but poorly 
cultivated, and the population squalid and miser- 
able in the extreme. About noon we arrived at 
the hacienda [farmstead] of Cananas, in which is 
a meson of the usual description. I enjoyed a 
bath in the ice-cold waters of a fierce mountain- 
stream, which dashes through a wild dell clothed 
with beautiful shrubs. As I was lying on the 
ground enjoying a cigar after my bath, a number 
of Indians approached, and examined me with the 



HITTING THE TRAIL 103 

greatest curiosity. Many of them had never be- 
fore seen a foreigner, and, as they stood staring 
round me, muttered, " Valgame en Dios; Ave 
Maria Purissimal que giiero, guero, y habla como 
nosostrosi — How white, how white is this man, 
and yet speaks as we do ! " 

The day was beautiful; and as we had finished 
our day's journey of thirty-five miles by one 
o'clock, the afternoon was devoted to cleaning 
mules and horses and arranging aparejos. Our 
supper consisted of rice, chile, and frijoles, after 
which I rolled myself like a mummy in my sarape, 
and, spite of entomological attacks, was asleep 
in an instant, and stood the assaults of mosquito, 
bug, and flea, until the mesonero (inn-keeper) 
roused me at three o'clock with a cup of chocolate, 
which is the only obtainable breakfast in all the 
mesones on the road. 

16th. — We picked our way up a mountain in 
the dark, through a perfect sea of rocks and 
stones, and on the summit came suddenly upon the 
bivouac of a large party of arrieros, who were 
lying snoring in their sarapes round a roaring fire, 
their mules grazing round them. I got off my 
horse to light a cigar at their fire, when one of 
them, starting up and seeing a stranger, shouted 
" Ladrones! " which quickly roused the rest, who 
seized their escopetos [muskets] and shouted 



104 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

"Where, where?" Seeing their mistake, they 
rubbed their eyes, and asked the news — the nove- 
dades — which I found with them related to the 
state of the roads, and not revolutions, counter- 
revolutions, and the like, with which, true philoso- 
phers, they never trouble their heads. In the first 
part of this day's journey the country was moun- 
tainous, and covered with dwarf-oak and ilex. 
We then entered upon a tract of open undulating 
downs dotted with thickets, but with no signs of 
habitation. Every eight or ten miles we passed 
a miserable Indian village with its patch of maize, 
but the country is entirely uncultivated with this 
exception, and not a soul is met on the road. The 
downs here resemble the rolling prairie of the far 
West, are covered with excellent grass, and are ca- 
pable of supporting immense herds of cattle. The 
plains are singularly destitute of trees, which the 
Mexicans say were destroyed by the Spanish con- 
querors, but with what object it is impossible to 
understand, for the want of fuel is a great draw- 
back to the settlement of this portion of the coun- 
try. 

At 9, p. M. we arrived at the end of our day's 
journey, thirty-five miles, halting at the Hacienda 
del Rio Sarco — the farm of the muddy brook. 
We found here a detachment of cavalry on their 
way to the seat of war, and three staff-officers re- 



HITTING THE TRAIL 105 

quested permission to join our party the next day 
as a security against robbers. The meson was 
better than usual, being the stopping-place of the 
diligencia to Fresnillo ; but of beds we had taken a 
long leave ; at least I had — for my companion, 
more luxurious, carried a camp-bedstead, which 
was the load of two mules. 

I do not think I have fully described a meson, 
which, as it is a characteristic discomfort of Mexi- 
can travelling, deserves a sketch. 

The meson is everywhere the same in form; a 
large corral, or yard, entered by a huge gateway, 
is surrounded by some half-dozen square rooms 
without windows or furniture. In one corner is 
generally a stone platform raised about three feet 
from the floor of clay. This is the bed. A little 
deal table is sometimes furnished if demanded. In 
one corner of the corral is the cocina, the kitchen, 
so called — lucus a non lucendo — from the fact 
that nothing is cooked there ; and in an outer yard 
is the caballeriza, the stable, with a well in the 
centre. The mules are unpacked and the baggage 
secured in one of the rooms destined for the mas- 
ters, while the aparejos and saddles, &c., are placed 
in another occupied by the servants. On entering, 
the mozo shouts for the mesonero, the landlord, 
who makes his appearance, armed with the key of 
the granary, where corn and straw are kept. He 



106 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

condescends to serve out the straw and barley, or 
maize, as the case may be, all of which is duly 
weighed. The mules and horses are consigned to 
the stable and fed, after which the mozos forage 
for themselves and masters. The following con- 
versation then takes place with the landlord : — 

Mozo. — '' Amigo, que hay a comer? — What is 
there to eat? " 

Mesonero. — " Ah, senor, aqui no hay nada — 
Ah, my lord, there is nothing here." 

Mozo. — " Valgame Dios, que pais es este! — 
Heaven defend me, what a country have we come 
to!" 

Mesonero. — ^" Si, senor, es muy povre — It's 
true, my lord, it's a very poor country." 

Mozo. — " Pero que vamos hacerf Estan muri- 
endo de hamhre los cahalleros — But what are we 
to do ? The gentlemen are dying of hunger." 

Mesonero. — " Si, sus mercedes lo gustan, hay 
polio, hay frijoles, hay chile Colorado, hay tortil- 
las — Well, if their worships like it, they can have 
a fowl and frijoles, and red peppers and tortillas." 

Mozo. — " Esta hueno, amigo! — Capital, my 
friend ! and let there be enough for us too " ; and 
then " Quien sabe " how much corn the horses eat ! 
Eh, my friend (winking his eye) : " Vaya, que 
vengan — Go to, let them be prepared." — Exit 
Mesonero. 



HITTING THE TRAIL 107 

In due course several pipkins make their ap- 
pearance, containing the polio, the frijoles, the 
chile Colorado, and a pile of tortillas: knives, 
spoons, and forks are not known in a meson. 

In the morning, before daylight, the mesonero 
makes his appearance with the little cups of coffee, 
and hiscochos (a sweet cake), and presents the bill. 

11th. — Leave Rio Sarco — the Mexican offi- 
cers in company. These worthies amused us 
vastly by their accounts of what they were going 
to do. General Ampudia, they said, was merely 
waiting for the Americans to advance, when he in- 
tended to entrap them, leap upon and annihilate 
them at once; that hitherto he had had but raw 
troops, rancheros and the like, but, when the regu- 
lar cavalry reach him, then, a Dios! he would act.* 

The country, like that through which we passed 
yesterday, was undulating, with fine downs and ex- 
cellent pasture. The villages, consisting of a few 
huts built of adobes, were few and far between. 
Before the doors of several were placed small stools 
spread with a white cloth, a sign that there the 
hungry traveller might break his fast ; and at one 
of these mesas puestas we made it a custom every 
morning to halt, and discuss the usual fare of eggs, 

* Ampudia was appointed commander-in-chief after the 
recall of Santa Anna from banishment, in July, 1846. 
{Ed.) 



108 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

frijoles, and chile. On a large level plain covered 
with cattle, and better cultivated than is generally 
the case, stands the Hacienda de la Soledad (of 
solitude), well named, since it stands alone in the 
vast plain, the only object which breaks the 
monotony of the view for many miles. The plain 
is surrounded by mountains, and the road passes 
over a stony sierra, thickly covered with the yel- 
low-flowered nopalo, a gigantic species of cactus. 
As we were slowly traversing the rocky sierra, 
we descried, a few hundred yards ahead of us, a 
band of seven horsemen drawn up across the road. 
One of my companion's servants, who had been 
many years a smuggler on this road, instantly rec- 
ognised them as a well-known band of robbers: 
we therefore, as their object was plain, collected 
our mulada [pack-train of mules] into a compact 
body, and, distributing our party of six, half on 
each side, we unslung our carbines, threw the flaps 
off our holsters, and steadily advanced, the Span- 
iard and myself in front, with our pieces cocked 
and ready for service. The robbers, however, saw 
at a glance that two of us were foreigners, for 
whom and their arms they have a great respect, 
and, wheeling quickly on one side of the road, they 
hitched their ready lassos on the horns of their 
saddles, and, remaining in line, allowed us to pass, 
saluting us with " Adios, caballeros, buen mage I — 



HITTING THE TRAIL 109 

a pleasant journey to you " — the leader inquiring 
of one of the mozos, as he passed, whether the 
diligencia was on the road and had many pas- 
sengers ? 

They were all superbly mounted, and well armed 
with carbine, sword, and pistols; and each had a 
lasso hanging on the horn of his high-peaked sad- 
dle. " Adios, amigos" we said, as we passed 
them, " 2/ huena fortuna — and good luck this fine 
morning." 

Crossing the sierra, we descended into a level 
and beautiful champaign, through which meandered 
a rushing stream, the Rio Lerma. The soil seemed 
everywhere to be rich and fruitful, but no signs of 
cultivation appeared until we approached the San 
Juan del Rio, a town of considerable size, and here 
the milpas, the maize-fields, looked green and beau- 
tiful. The town, when seen from the sierra, as we 
descended into the plain, looked exceedingly Span- 
ish and picturesque. Indeed, in crossing these 
vast and uncultivated tracts, anything in the 
shape of human abode is grateful to the eye ; and 
even the adobe hut of the Indian, with its mesa 
puesta, is a refreshing oasis in these desert soli- 
tudes. 

San Juan del Rio is very beautifully situated, 
and surrounded by fine gardens, which are cele- 
brated for grapes and chirimoyas. It is difficult 



110 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

to arrive at anything like a correct estimate of 
the population of a Mexican town, unless by com- 
paring the size with that of another, the number 
of whose inhabitants is known ; and it is almost im- 
possible to obtain anything like correct informa- 
tion on any statistical point from a Mexican, who, 
for the glory of his town or province, will in- 
variably give an absurdly exaggerated statement. 
Thus, on asking in San Juan of a respectable mer- 
chant what was the number of its inhabitants, he 
gravely answered, " Mas que ochenta mil — more 
than eighty thousand ; " and on another occasion, 
on asking the same question of a rico [rich man] 
of Taos, a valley of some twelve thousand inhabi- 
tants, he answered without hesitation, " two mil- 
lions." 

At a rough guess I should estimate the popula- 
tion of San Juan del Rio at eight or ten thousand. 

The houses are generally of one story, and built 
of stone, whitewashed, with barred windows,* the 
same as in old Spain, looking into the streets. No 
particular trade appears to be carried on in the 
town, if we except begging, which here, as every- 
where else in the country, is in a most flourishing 
condition. 

We arrived at San Juan about noon, although 
our day's journey was thirty-five miles; but our 

*Th)e rejas of the Moorish houses of Andalusia. 



HITTING THE TRAIL 111 

animals were getting more tractable, and travelled 
with less disorder, and consequently performed the 
journey quicker, and with less fatigue. 

18th, — The road to-day was better than usual, 
although we passed through a broken country, 
diversified by mountain, rugged sierras, and fertile 
plains. Our practice was to start before daylight 
in the morning, by which means we avoided trav- 
elling in the very hot part of the day, stopping to 
breakfast wherever a " mesa puesta " presented it- 
self ; our animals, in the meanwhile, travelling on, 
performing the whole day's journey without stop- 
ping, and which, I believe, is the best plan ; for a 
halt of a few minutes does not rest the animals, 
and the removal of packsaddles from the heated 
beasts often produces troublesome wounds. 

The district in which we were now travelling is 
situated on the verge of the volcanic region of 
JoruUo, where, in 1759, occurred one of the most 
extraordinary phenomena which has ever been ob- 
served. A large tract which had long ago been 
subjected to volcanic action, but for many cen- 
turies had been undisturbed, was suddenly the 
scene of most violent subterraneous commotion. 

A succession of earthquakes continued for the 
space of two months, to the great consternation 
of the inhabitants, at the end of which time they 
subsided for a few days, but suddenly recommenced 



11£ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

with frightful subterranean noises and continued 
shocks. The frightened Indians fled to the neigh- 
boring mountains, whence they beheld, with horror 
and alarm, flames issuing from the plain, which 
heaved and tossed like a raging sea, rocks and 
stones being hurled high in air ; and suddenly the 
surface of the plain was seen gradually to rise in 
the shape of a dome, throwing out at the same time 
numerous small cones and masses, which rose to 
an elevation of 1200 and 1400 feet above the 
original level of the plain. 

This is the first of a series of volcanic districts 
which stretch from the valley of Mexico along the 
whole of the table-land, at irregular distances from 
each other. 

This morning a village presented itself to us, 
just as we had given up all hopes of meeting a 
breakfast, and a promising-looking whitewashed 
house augured well for our hungry stomachs. 
Unfortunately some arrieros had been before us, 
and all we could muster was a guisado [stew] of 
well-picked bones and some chile'd frijoles. 

Descending from the sierra, we entered a mag- 
nificent plain enclosed by mountains, and arrived 
at Queretaro at two in the afternoon, distant from 
San Juan del Rio forty miles, it being the first 
town of size or note we had yet seen since leaving 
Mexico. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE I/AND OF PULQUE 

OUERETARO, the chief city of the de- 
partment of that name, is well built, and 
contains many handsome churches and 
other buildings. Its population is over forty 
thousand, twelve thousand of whom are Indians. 
It is surrounded by beautiful gardens and or- 
chards, which produce a great quantity of fruit 
for the market of the capital. It has several 
cloth- factories, which employ a considerable num- 
ber of Indians, but are not in a very flourishing 
state. An aqueduct of stone conveys water to the 
city from some springs in the neighborhood. Its 
chief trade is in the manufacture of cigars of the 
tobacco of the country. 

The tobacco, as in France and Spain, is a gov- 
ernment monopoly. The privilege of cultivating 
the plant is limited to a small extent of country in 
the departments of Vera Cruz, Puebla, and Oajaca ; 
but lately, on account of its isolated position, and 
the great distance from the capital, with its conse- 
quent difficulty of transport, the territory of New 

113 



114j adventures in MEXICO 

Mexico is privileged to grow tobacco for its own 
consumption. The tobacco grown in the above 
districts is purchased by the government at a 
stated price, and its manufacture is committed to 
individuals in different departments. This monop- 
oly, together with that of salt and gunpowder, 
has always been a source of annoyance to the gov- 
ernment, and ill feeling on the part of the people. 
The revenue produced by the tobacco monopoly 
does not amount to more than half a million of 
dollars, owing to the pickings and stealings carried 
on in this as well as every other government de- 
partment. If properly managed, it would be the 
source of a considerable and certain revenue. As 
it is, little or nothing finds its way into the treas- 
ury after the expenses of the concern are paid. — 
{Cosa de Mejico.)* 

The cigars of Queretaro are of a peculiar shape, 
about three inches long, and square at both ends. 
To one accustomed to the tobacco of Havana the 
pungent flavor of the Queretaro cigars is at first 
disagreeable, but in a short time the taste acquired 
for this peculiar raciness renders all other tobacco 
insipid and tasteless. Excellent pulque is made 
here. A beverage called colinche, expressed 
from the juice of the tuna (fruit of the prickly 

* The Mexican way. (Ed.) 



THE LAND OF PULQUE 115 

pear), I tasted for the first time. It is of a blood- 
red color, but of sharp and pleasant flavor. 

As we were now in the land par excellence of 
pulque, a short description of this truly national 
liquor and its manufacture will not be out of 
place. The maguey, American aloe — Agave 
Americana — is cultivated over an extent of coun- 
try embracing 50,000 square miles. In the city of 
Mexico alone the consumption of pulque amounts 
to the enormous quantity of eleven millions of gal- 
lons per annum, and a considerable revenue from 
its sale is derived by government. The plant at- 
tains maturity in a period varying from eight to 
fourteen years, when it flowers ; and it is during 
the stage of inflorescence only that the saccharine 
juice is extracted. The central stem which en- 
closes the incipient flower is then cut off near the 
bottom, and a cavity or basin is discovered, over 
which the surrounding leaves are drawn close and 
tied. Into this reservoir the juice distils, which 
otherwise would have risen to nourish and support 
the flower. It is removed three or four times dur- 
ing the twenty-four hours, yielding a quantity of 
liquor varying from a quart to a gallon and a 
half. 

The juice is extracted by means of a siphon 
made of a species of gourd called acojote, one end 



116 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

of which is placed in the liquor, the other in the 
mouth of a person, who bj suction draws up the 
fluid into the pipe and deposits it in the bowls 
he has with him for the purpose. It is then placed 
in earthen j ars, and a little old pulque — madre 
de pulque — is added, when it soon ferments, and 
is immediately ready for use. The fermentation 
occupies two or three days, and when it ceases 
the pulque is in fine order. . . . 

To return to Queretaro. As we entered the 
town by the garita, we saw in a desague, or small 
canal, which ran by the side of and in the very 
street, a bevy of women and girls " in the garb of 
Eve," and in open day, tumbling and splashing in 
the v/ater, enjoying themselves like ducks in a pud- 
dle. They were in no degree disconcerted by the 
gaze of the passengers who walked at the edge of 
the canal, but laughed and joked in perfect inno- 
cence, and unconsciousness of perpetrating an im- 
propriety. The passers-by appeared to take it as 
a matter of course, but we strangers, struck v/ith 
the singularity of the scene, involuntarily reined 
in our horses at the edgQ of the water and allowed 
them to drink, during which we were attacked by 
the swarthy naiads with laughing and splashing, 
and shouts of "Ay que sin vergiienzas! — what 
shameless rogues! Echa-les, muchachas! — at 
them, girls ; splash the rascals ! "~ and into our 



THE LAND OF PULQUE 117 

faces came showers of water, until, drenched to 
the skin, we were glad to beat a retreat. 

We found the town full of troops en route to 
San Luis Potosi, and had great difficulty in finding 
a corral for our animals: ourselves we were fain 
to stow away in a loft above the corral, where, 
amongst soldiers and arrieros, we passed a flea 
and bug ridden night. 

There was nothing eatable in the house, and we 
sallied out to the stall of a tortillera in the market- 
place, where we took a standing supper of frijoles 
and chile as usual. On presenting a silver dollar 
in payment, I received eight cakes of soap in 
change — current coin of Queretaro.* 

" Valgame Dios! " I exclaimed as the saponace- 
ous medium was piled into my sombrero. 

" Virgen Purissima! Ave Maria! " returned the 
unmoved tortillera ; " y javon el mas blando — 
and the softest of soap too " — she added, as I 
eyed the curious currency. " Vaya." 

I had intended to remain a day or two in 
Queretaro,f but the town was so crowded with 

* " Can it be," asked the A thenceum, in quoting this inci- 
dent, " can it be on a principle analogous to those of our 
own statutes against * clipping and coining,' that the in- 
tegrity of the cake of soap is so religiously respected 
throughout these wild and hot districts?" {Ed.) 

f Distance from San Juan del Rio to Queretaro, forty 
miles. 



118 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

soldiers of the " liberating army," and the accom- 
modation for man and beast at the mesones was so 
execrable, that I determined to proceed at once. 

The next morning, the 19th, our lazy mozos, 
having indulged too freely in pulque the night be- 
fore, did not make their appearance until 5 a.m. : 
we therefore made a late start, and were still 
further delayed by our animals, accustomed to 
start in the dark, taking it into their heads to ex- 
plore the town, and persisting in turning down 
every street but the right one. 

Between Queretaro and Celaya the geological 
features of the country undergo a change, lime- 
stone taking the place of the primary and volcanic 
rocks over which we had till now been passing. 
We appeared also to be gradually, but perceptibly, 
descending from the high table-lands, and the 
climate became warmer and more tropical. The 
plains are exceedingly beautiful, teeming with fer- 
tility, and better cultivated. The gardens and 
maize-patches of the small Indian villages are en- 
closed with hedges, or rather walls, of organo, a 
species of single, square-stemmed cactus, which 
grows to the height of forty and fifty feet. It 
is called organo on account of its resemblance to 
the pipes of an organ. Planted close together, 
the walls of organo are impervious to pigs and 
poultry, and form admirable corrals to the In- 



THE LAND OF PULQUE 119 

dian huts. Here the houses are built of un- 
cemented limestones, piled loosely one on the 
other, and are sometimes roofed with talc. The 
road was flooded and impassable, and we were 
obliged to wade for many miles through a lagime 
[lake], which was very distressing to the animals. 
The mules frequently sank so deep into the mud 
that we were obliged to unload the packs before 
they could extricate themselves. 

During the day we passed through El Paseo, 
a comical little place in the midst of the mud, and 
surrounded by plantations of magueys. The 
houses were all without windows, and the inhabit- 
ants, mostly Indians, appeared to have no other 
occupation than making pulque and drinking it. 
At a house where the usual sign of a maguey-leaf 
hung at the door, I had a most delicious draught 
of pulque, fresh from the plant, sparkling and 
effervescent as champagne, and fifty times more 
grateful. Magueyes and nopalos * now lined the 
road, the latter loaded with fruit. The Indians 
gather it with long sticks with a fork at one end, 
in which they secure the tuna.f Near every vil- 
lage, and sometimes at great distances, are seen 
women and girls under a tree, with enormous piles 

* On a prickly pear I observed a growth of mistletoe 
(? orchis) with a superb crimson flower, 
f Fruit of the prickly pear. 



120 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

of this refreshing fruit prepared for the mouth 
by the removal of the prickles. I have seen our 
mozos attack a pyramid of tunas three feet high, 
and demolish it before I smoked out a cigar. The 
fruit is full of juice, and is said to be very whole- 
some and nourishing. I invariably carried a knife 
and fork in my holsters, and, travelling along, 
without stopping would make a thrust with my 
fork at some tempting tuna which overhung the 
road, and thus quench my thirst in the absence of 
pulque. The colinche made from the juice of the 
tuna is also very agreeable. 

We entered Celaya by a handsome bridge over 
the Lerma. Inscribed on a stone let into the 
parapet is a notice to travellers, that the good 
people of Celaya erected this bridge " por el hene- 
fcio de los viageros — for the benefit of the way- 
farer," — which fact they take care shall not be 
forgotten. Like all Mexican towns, Celaya is 
full of churches and leperos, and a conspicuous 
object is the large collecturia, a building where the 
tithes of com and fruits belonging to the Church 
are kept. In most villages the collecturia stands 
side by side with the iglesia, and is invariably the 
larger building of the two. 

The Carmelite church is an imposing structure 
of mixed architecture, with Corinthian and Ionic 
columns. The interior is sombre and gloomy, but 



THE LAND OF PULQUE 121 

enriched with a great quantity of gold and silver 
ornaments. 

The trade of the town consists in the manu- 
facture of saddles, bridles, and articles of leather 
required for the road. Population about 7000. 
Grain of all kinds is most prolific and abundant in 
the plains of Celaya, and horses and mules are bred 
in considerable numbers. The distance from 
Queretaro is thirty-seven miles. 

Wth. — Leaving Celaya, we passed over a wild 
and but partially cultivated country, leaving 
Salamanca on the left. Hares of very large size, 
and tame as dogs, abound on these plains, and 
our march to-day was enlivened by an incessant 
popping of carbines and rifles. In one patch of 
mezquit, a thorny shrub very common on the 
plains, I counted seventy hares in a little glade 
not one hundred yards square, and they were 
jumping out of the grass at every step of our 
animals. We breakfasted at a little Indian vil- 
lage called La Xuage, in the comical-looking 
church of which a grand funcion was in progress, 
and whilst our meal was in preparation we strolled 
to the iglesia to see what was going on. 

The priest, equipped in full uniform, was en- 
gaged before the altar praying with open book, 
and at particular passages gave a signal with his 
hand behind his back, when half a score of In- 



122 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

dian boys outside immediately exploded a number 
of squibs and firewheels, and a bevy of adult In^ 
dians fired off their rusty escopetas, tbe congre- 
gation shouting vociferously. At the time when 
one of the salvos should have taken place, and a 
huge trahuco [blunderbuss] fired off, which was 
fastened for safety to the door of the church, the 
padre rushed out in the middle of his discourse and 
clapped a match to the bunghole, giving a most 
severe look at the neglectful bombardier, and, 
banging off the blunderbuss, returned book in 
hand to the altar, where he resumed his discourse. 
The farther we advanced from Mexico the more 
curious became the provincials in examing " los 
estrangeros " and their equipments. Our hostess 
in La Xuage, after she had served the eggs and 
frijoles, rushed to all her female acquaintance 
with the news that two strangers were in her house, 
and " por Dios " that they should come and see 
the guero. As a "gilero^' I was an object of 
particular attention. I was examined from head 
to foot, and the hostess took upon herself to show 
me off as a jockey would a horse. My hair was 
exposed to their wonder and admiration; and 
" mire," added my exhibitor, taking me by the 
moustache, " mire sus bigotes, son giieros tam^ 
bien " — and do look here, if his bigotes are not 
giieros too, " Valgame Dios J " 



THE LAND OF PULQUE 123 

Nothing excited the curiosity and admiration of 
the men so much as the sight of my arms. My 
double rifle, and servant's double-barrelled short 
carbine and pistols, were handled, and almost wor- 
shipped. " Armas tan bonitas " [arms so good] 
they had never seen. With such weapons, they all 
agreed, neither Indian nor Texan, nor el demonio 
[the devil] himself, was to be feared. One old 
Indian, who told me he had served against all the 
enemies of the republic, was incredulous when they 
told him that the guns were double. Half blind, 
he thrust his fingers into the muzzles, and, as- 
sured of the fact, muttered, " Ave Maria! dos- 
tiros, dos-tirosf Valgame Dios! dos-tiros, dos- 
tiros; dos-tiros, dos-balas. Jesus Maria! dos-ti- 
ros! " — all which exclamations hinged upon the 
extraordinary fact of a gun possessing two barrels 
and two balls. 

After a long journey of nearly fifty miles 
through an uninteresting country, we arrived at 
the solitary rancho of Temascateo, standing alone 
in a large uninhabited plain, which bears the repu- 
tation of being infested with robbers, and " :nui/ 
mala gente " from the towns of Celaya, Salamanca, 
and Silao. 

Mine host of Temascateo was the beau-ideal of 
a ventero.* Fat and pulque lined , his heavy 

* Keeper of a small way^side inn. {Ed.) 



124 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

head, with large fishy eyes, almost sank into his 
body, his neck, albeit of stout proportion, being 
inadequate to support its enormous burden. Con- 
cealed from his sight behind the sensible horizon 
of a capacious paunch, a pair of short and 
elephantine legs shook beneath their load. The 
stolid heavy look of this mountain of meat was in- 
expressible. Sitting outside the house in a chair, 
with a paper cigar in his mouth, he directed the 
issue of the fodder; his wife, a bustling, busy 
dame, almost as unwieldy as her spouse, doing 
the talking part of the business. The only words 
which appeared able to force their way through 
his adipose larjmx were " Si, sen-or; No, sen-or,^' 
from the bottom of his stomach. After supper I 
paid the worthy couple a visit, and, presenting 
mine host with a real Havana, it threw him into 
such a state of excitement and delight that I ex- 
pected to see him either burst, or subside in an 
apoplectic fit. 

" Dios mio, Dios mio!" he grunted; *' a puro 
all the way from Havana ! " turning it in his hands 
and kissing it with affection. His wife was called 
to see it. Was there ever such a beauty of a 
puro? He had not smoked one such for thirty 
years. Asking me all the news of the war, he re- 
marked that los Tejanos, as the Americans are 
called here, were very bad Indians and cannibals ; 



THE LAND OF PULQUE 125 

that it was horrible to think of such people taking 
the country. Much better, he said, if the English, 
who, he had heard, were a very strong and rich 
nation, with " muy poco desorden en su gobierno, 
— very little disorder in its government " — were 
to take it ; and as England was " poco mas alia de 
Mejico — only a little the other side of Mexico ; " 
in fact, a neighbor — it would not be so bad. 

A room in the rancho, as is often the case, was 
fitted up as a little chapel, with a figure of San 
Miguel, " imagen WAiy hermosa y bien pintada — 
a very beautiful and well-painted image," they 
told me ; and as this happened to be a " dia de 
fiesta" or feast-day, a funcion was to be held at 
nine o'clock in honor of the saint, to which I was 
duly invited, but declined on the plea of fatigue 
and sleepiness. 

I was roused at midnight by our host, who came 
to inform me that a band of robbers had just left 
the house, where they had stopped for a dram, and, 
after inquiring about my party, had proceeded on 
the road to Silao. He said he knew them to be 
muy mala gente, and warned me to be on my 
guard, even that very night, and in the house, 
" as who knows," he said, " but they may return 
and murder us all? " However, I was too sleepy 
to watch, and, merely putting another pair of 
pistols within my blanket, I was soon in the land 



126 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

of dreams, where not even a ladrone disturbed me. 
The next morning one of my mules was found to 
be so ill that she was unable to carry her pack; 
and another, belonging to my friend the Spaniard, 
had given out entirely, and was lying in the corral 
unable to rise. Her shoes were taken off, and 
she was left in the hands of the mesonero. My 
sick mule (she had a bad fistula in the shoulder, 
which broke out the day after I left Mexico) was 
relieved by one which I hired at the rancho to 
carry the pack as far as Silao, where I intended 
to purchase two or three more. 



CHAPTER X 

MULES AND MARAUDERS 

TWENTY-FIRST.— We left the rancho 
late, as we had only twenty-four miles 
to travel; and moreover we wished to 
have our little affair with the robbers (which was 
expected) in broad daylight, and, passing through 
a fertile but uncultivated plain, reached Silao in 
the middle of the day. 

In Silao I spent the greater part of the day in 
hunting up and down the town for mules ; and, al- 
though hundreds were brought to me, there was 
scarcely one that was not more or less wounded 
by pack-saddles. It is no uncommon thing to see 
mules so lacerated by the chafings of the aparejos, 
that the rib-bones are plainly discernible, and in 
this state the poor animal is worked without in- 
termission. With proper care an animal m.ay per- 
form the longest journeys under a pack without 
injury. Although the Mexicans are from child- 
hood conversant with the management of mules, 
it is astonishing what palpable errors they com- 
mit in the care of their beasts. The consequences 

127 



128 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

of their system were very manifest in our journey 
to Durango. My companion allowed his mozos 
to treat his animals according to their system, 
whereas mine were subject to an entirely different 
one, from which I never permitted the servants to 
deviate. 

On coming in after a journey of forty miles, 
performed for the most part under a burning sun, 
my companion's animals were immediately stripped 
of their saddles, and frequently of large portions 
of their skin at the same time: they were then in- 
stantly taken to water, and permitted to fill them- 
selves at discretion. Mine, on the other hand, 
remained with loosened girths until they were 
nearly cool, and were allowed to drink but little 
at first, although on the road they drank when 
water presented itself. Before reaching Durango 
the advantages of the two systems were apparent. 
The Spaniard lost three mules which died on the 
road, and all his remaining horses and mules were 
actually putrefying with sores. My animals ar- 
rived at Durango fat and strong, and without a 
scratch, and performed the journey to Santa Fe 
in New Mexico, a distance of nearly two thousand 
miles by the road I took, in fifty-six days, and 
with ease and comfort. 

After rejecting a hundred at least which were 
brought for my inspection, I purchased a troiwo 



MULES AND MARAUDERS 129 

— a pair — of Californian mules, than which no 
better ever carried saddle or aparejo. This pair, 
with the two horses I brought with me from 
Mexico, were the most perfectly enduring animals 
I ever travelled with. No day was too long, no 
work too hard, no food too coarse for them. One 
of the mules, which, from her docility and good 
temper, I promoted to be my hunting-mule, was 
a short, stumpy animal, with a very large head 
and long flapping ears. Many a deer and antelope 
I killed off her back; and, when hunting, I had 
only to dismount and throw down the lariat on 
the ground, and she would remain motionless for 
hours until I returned. These mules became so 
attached to my horse Panchito, that it was nearly 
impossible to separate them; and they would fol- 
low me like dogs when mounted on his back. 
They both crossed the grand prairies with me to 
the Missouri; and when compelled to part them 
from poor Panchito, I thought their hearts would 
have broken. 

In the meson of Silao we were literally besieged 
by representatives from every shop in the town, 
who poured upon us, offering their wares for sale, 
and every imaginable article required for " the 
road." This is the custom in all the towns, and 
shows the scarcity of regular custom. No sooner 
does a stranger enter a meson than to it flock 



130 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

venders of saddles, bridles, bits, spurs, whips, al- 
forjas, sarapes for yourself, rebosos for your 
ladye-love, sashes, sombreros, boots, silks, and vel- 
vets (cotton), and goods of every kind that the 
town affords. Besides these, Indian women and 
girls arrive with baskets of fruit — oranges, 
lemons, grapes, chirimoyas, batatas, platanos, 
plantains, camotes, granaditas, mamayes, tunas, 
pears, apples, and fruit of every description. 
Pulque and colinche sellers are not wanting, all 
extolling their goods and pressing them on the un- 
fortunate traveller at the same moment, while 
leperos whine and pray for alms, and lavanderas 
for your clothes to wash, the whole uniting in 
such a Babel-like din as outbeggars description. 
Rid yourself of these, and gangs of a more respect- 
able class throng the door for the express pur- 
pose of staring; and this is a most ill-bred char- 
acteristic of Mexican manners, and one of the 
greatest of the many annoyances which beset a 
traveller. 

Silao is notorious for its population of thieves 
and robbers, who, it is the boast of the place, are 
unequalled in audacity as well as dexterity. I 
saw a striking instance of this. A man entered 
the corral of the meson, and unblushingly offered 
for sale a pair of wax candles which he had just 
stolen from a church, boasting of the deed to his 



MULES AND MARAUDERS 131 

worthy companions, who quite approved the feat. 

Silao is on the borders of the departments of 
Guanaxuato and Jalisco, and contains about 5000 
inhabitants. The plains in the vicinity produce 
abundantly wheat, maize, frijoles, barley, &c., and 
the soil is admirably adapted for the growth of 
cotton, tobacco, and cochineal. 

We were now perceptibly, but very gradually, 
decreasing our elevation, and the increased tem- 
perature was daily becoming more manifest. 
Jalisco, which we were now entering, belongs to 
the tierra caliente, where all tropical productions 
might be cultivated, but are not. It is on the 
western declivity of the Cordillera of Anahuac, 
which may be said to connect the Andes of South 
and Central America with the great chain of the 
Rocky Mountains. Jalisco has equal if not 
greater advantages, in point of soil, climate, and 
communication with the coast, than any other sec- 
tion of Mexico. The table-land on the western 
ridge of the Cordillera is exceedingly fertile and 
enjoys a temperate climate. Here are situated 
the populous towns of Silao, Leon, Lagos, and 
Aguas Calientes, in the midst of a most productive 
champaign. The central portion, of a less eleva- 
tion and consequently more tropical temperature, 
which produces cotton, cochineal, and vanilla, as 
well as every variety of cereal produce, contains 



132 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

a population for the most part engaged in mines 
and manufactures. This port has a communica- 
tion with the Pacific coast by means of the Rio de 
Santiago or Tololotlan, which flows from the great 
lake of Chapala, and on which the important city 
of Guadalaxara is situated, with a population of 
23,000 or 25,000. The regions near the coast are 
teeming with fertility, and covered with magnifi- 
cent forests ; but unfortunately the vomito here 
holds its dreaded sway, and the climate is fatal to 
strangers, and indeed to the inhabitants them- 
selves. 

22nd. — From Silao to La Villa de Leon the eye 
looks in vain for signs of cultivation. On these 
vast plains day after day we meet no other travel- 
lers than the arrieros with their atajos of mules 
from Durango, Zacatecas, and Fresnillo. These 
picturesque cavalcades we always hailed with 
pleasure, as they were generally the bearers of 
news, novedades, from Durango, of Indian attacks 
and of bands of robbers they had met on the road, 
which intelligence always put us on the qui mve, 
and made our mozos look very blue. Leon is own 
brother to Silao, and rivals that town in its celeb- 
rity as being prolific in robbers and assassins. 
Grain of every kind is here very abundant and of 
excellent quality. 

I had a little affair at Leon which was near 



MULES AND MARAUDERS 133 

proving disagreeable to me, and I have no doubt 
was anything but pleasant to one of the parties 
concerned. I had been strolling about nine o'clock 
in the evening through the plaza, which at that 
time presents a lively scene, the stalls of the 
market-people being lighted by fires which are 
made for that purpose in the square, and which 
throw their flickering light on the picturesque 
dresses of the peasantry who attend the market 
as buyers or sellers, and the still more lively garb 
of the idle loungers who, wrapped in showy sarapes 
and cigarros in mouth, loaf at that hour along 
the streets. Returning from the plaza through a 
dark narrow street, I was detected as a stranger 
by a knot of idle rascals standing at the door of a 
pulque-shop, who immediately saluted me with 
cries of " Texano^ Texano, que meura, — let's kill 
him, the Yankee dog." Wishing to avoid a ren- 
contre with such odds, and with no other means of 
defence than a bowie-knife, I thought on this oc- 
casion that discretion would be much the better 
part of valor, so I turned off into another dark 
street, but was instantly pursued by the crowd, 
who followed yelling at my heels. Luckily an 
opportune and dark doorway offered me a shelter, 
and I crouched in it as my pursuers passed with 
loud cries and knives in hand. The instant that 
they all, as I imagined, had passed me, I emerged 



134 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

from mj hiding-place, and ran almost into the 
very arms of three who were bringing up the rear, 
** Hi esta, hi estal " they shouted, baring their 
knives and rushing at me. " Maten le, maten lei 
— here he is, here he is : kill him, kill the jackass." 
The darkness was in my favor. As the foremost 
one rushed at me with uplifted blade I stepped 
quickly to one side, and at the same moment thrust 
at him with my knife. He stumbled forward on 
his knees with a cry of " Dios! me ha mat ado — he 
has killed me " — and fell on his face. One of 
the remaining two ran to his assistance, the other 
made towards me ; but, finding that I was inclined 
to compare notes with him and waited his attack, 
he slackened his pace and declined the encounter. 
I returned to the meson, and, without telling the 
Spaniard what had occurred, gave directions for 
the animals to be ready at midnight, and shortly 
after we were in the saddle and on our road. 

23rcZ. — From Leon the road ascends a sierra, 
from the top of which is a magnificent view of the 
plains of Silao. The mule-path by which we de- 
scended is rough and dangerous, and we had to 
wait on the summit of the sierra until day dawned 
before we could with safety undertake the descent. 
The whole country exhibits traces of a volcanic 
origin ; pumice and lava strew the ground, and the 
sierras are broken into tabular masses of a singu- 



MULES AND MARAUDERS 135 

lar regularity of outline. One isolated mountain 
rises abruptly from the plain, and resembles the 
Table-mountain of the Cape of Good Hope in 
the general form and regularity of its summit. 
This tabular form is a characteristic feature in the 
landscape of these volcanic regions: it is called 
mesa, table, by the Mexicans. Lagos lies at the 
foot of another sierra, with a lake in the distance, 
and seen from this elevation the prospect is very 
beautiful. Far from any habitation, we came 
upon an old woman sitting under a rock by the 
roadside, with numerous ollas simmering in the 
ashes of a fire, containing frijoles and chile, and 
here we stopped for our usual breakfast. 

It was a ^^ dia de fiesta [holiday]," and when 
we entered Lagos we found the population in great 
excitement, as on the morrow a " funcion de toros" 
a bull-fight, was to take place, and the " feria," 
annual fair, commenced that very night. 

The rancheros with their wives and daughters 
were pouring into the town from far and near, 
and we had met on the road many families on their 
way to the fair, forming a very picturesque caval- 
cade. First the ranchero himself, the pater fami- 
lias, in glossy sombrero with its gold or silver 
rolls, calzoneras glittering with many buttons, and 
snow-white drawers of Turkish dimensions, 
mounted on a showy horse gaily caparisoned, and 



136 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

bearing on its croup the smiling, smirking dame 
in span-new reboso and red or yellow enagua. 
Next a horse-load or two of muchachitas [girls], 
their brown faces peeping from the reboso, show- 
ing their black eyes and white teeth, as, shining 
with anticipated delight of the morrow's festivities, 
and in a state of perfect happiness and enj oyment, 
they return their acknowledgments to the compli- 
ments of the passing cabcdleros. These, in all the 
glory of Mexican dandyism, armed with scopeta 
[gun] and machete (sword), and the ever-ready 
lasso hanging from the saddle-bow, escorted the 
party, caracolling along on their prancing steeds. 

The diques — streams which run through the 
streets — were full of women and girls undergoing 
preparatory ablution, and dressing their long 
black hair with various unguents at the side of 
the water. Pedlers were passing from house to 
house offering for sale gaudy ornaments to the 
women, earrings of gold and silver and colored 
glass, beads of coral and shell from California, 
amulets and love-charms from the capital, indul- 
gences for peccadilloes committed on the morrow, 
and suitable for the occasion, the which were in 
great demand. 

In the plaza were numerous gambling-booths, 
where banks of gold, silver, and copper suited the 
pockets of every class. Here resorted the wealthy; 



MULES AND MARAUDERS 137 

haclendado with his rouleaus of onzas, the ranch- 
ero with his silver pesos, and the lepero with his 
copper clacos. In one of a middle class, where 
pesetas were the lowest stake, were congregated a 
mixture of all classes. The table covered with 
green cloth displayed tempting lines of gold and 
silver, surrounded by eager faces. Six women at 
one end of the room were singing national songs, 
and occasionally a winner threw them a silver 
coin, or a loser, for good luck, chucked a peseta 
over his shoulder to the same destination. Some 
of the airs were very pretty, although the words 
were generally pure nonsense. A song which de- 
scribed the courtship of a Mexican beauty by a 
soldier of Guadalaxara was repeatedly encored. 
Its chorus was the concluding words of the in- 
dignant beauty to the presumptuous suitor, and 
his meek reply : — 

" Soy Mejicarm 

De este pais, 
YOj un soldado 

8oy infeliz." 

"A Mexican girl 
Of this country am I. 

And I a poor soldier, — 
Woe is me!" 

In conclusion, after the aspiring muchacha had run 
through a long list of the sacrifices she would make 
if she listened to the suit of the poor soldier, the 



138 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

lover draws a glowing picture of the delights of a 
barrack life, the constant change of scene, and 
its advantages over the monotonous existence of a 
rancheria. He offers her rebosos of Puebla and 
enaguas of Potosi, the most retired corner in the 
quartel, and assures her that all his " bona robas " 
shall be discarded for her sake. This part put 
me in mind of the beautiful ballad of Zorilla, in 
which the Moorish knight woos the Christian lady 
with glowing descriptions of the presents he would 
make her, of his castle in Grenada, with its beau- 
tiful gardens, &c. : — 

" Y si mi Sultana eres, 

Que desiertos mis salones, 
Esta mi harem sin mAigereSj 

Mis oidos sin canciones. 
Yo te dare terciopelos, 

Y pei^fumes orientales. 
De Grecia te traere velos, 

De Cachemira chales. 

Y te dare blancas plumas 
Para que adornes tu f rente, 

Mas blancas que las espumas 
De nuestro mar del oriente, 

Y perlas para el cabello; 

Y banos para el calor; 
Collares para el cuello, 

For tus labios: Amor." 

and describes his brown fortress in the plains of 
Xenil, which will be queen amongst a thousand 
when it encloses the beautiful Christian: — 



MULES AND MARAUDERS 139 

" Que sera reina entre 7ml, 
Cuavdo encierre tu belleza." 

But with the Mexican muchacha, as with the 
Christian lady, the rebosos of Puebla, the enaguas 
of Potosi, or even the retired corner in the bar- 
rack-room, have as little eifect as the velvets and 
perfumes of the East, the veils brought from 
Greece, the Cashmere shawls, and the grey fortress 
in Grenada, had with the fair lady, who valued 
more her towers of Leon than the Moor's 
Grenada : — 

"Que mis torres de Leon 
Valen mas que tu Orejiada" 

"My Leon towers I doubly prize. 
Than all the plains of thy Grenada." 

^Uh,— We left Lagos for La Villa de la En- 
camacion (forty miles), through a barren and un- 
interesting country, destitute of trees, and the veg- 
etation sparse and burned up. The road was up 
and down sierras the whole day, scattered with 
nopalo and prickly pear ; the heat tremendous, and 
the sun's rays, reflected from the rocky sierra, 
fiery and scorching. We crossed a river which 
washes the walls of the town, by a ford on the 
right of a ruined bridge, destroyed during the 
War of Independence, and never rebuilt. This 
town was the first I saw in which all the houses 



140 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

were of adobes (sunburnt bricks). It exactly re- 
sembled the sketch of Timbuctoo as given in Rene 
Caille's book, and its appearance, as might be ex- 
pected, was miserable in the extreme. As we 
passed the quaint-looking church, with its bells 
swung high in air, the organ was playing a crash- 
ing polka — a funcion at the time being in prog- 
ress inside, and groups of leperos kneeling in the 
enclosed space in front. 

Amongst the beggars, who as usual attended 
our levee on arrival, was a lepero without even the 
rudiments of legs, who dragged himself along the 
ground on his stomach like a serpent, and had a 
breastplate of leather for the purpose of protect- 
ing his body from the rough stones over which he 
crawled. This disgusting wretch took up his posi- 
tion in the corral, and, as it cost him no little 
labor to crawl thus far, seemed determined to 
sicken us out of a coin. The night was so hot 
and close that I placed my blanket in the halcon 
which ran round the rooms, which in this meson 
were above the stables, and ascended by wooden 
steps. Being very tired, I had turned, in early, 
and was in a pleasant doze, when I imagined I 
heard a dog which belonged to my companion, 
and which had on leathern shoes to protect its 
feet, scraping or scratching near me. Thinking 
the animal, which was a great favorite, wanted to 



MULES AND MARAUDERS 141 

lie down on my blanket, I called to it to come and 
lie down, saying, " Ven aca, povrecitOy ven aca — 
Come here, poor fellow, come here." I immedi- 
ately felt something at my side, and, lazily opening 
my eyes, what was my intense horror and disgust 
at seeing the legless lepero crawling on my bed! 
Human nature could not stand it. " Maldito! " 
I roared out, " afuera — get out ! " and, gather- 
ing up my leg, kicked him from me. I did not 
recover from my disgust until I saw the wretch 
crawling across the corral and out of the gate. 
He had come to beg or steal; and, of course im- 
agining from my words that I was charitably in- 
viting him to share my blanket, was thus uncere- 
moniously ejected from the balcony. 



CHAPTER XI 

IN THE MINING COUNTRY 

TWENTY-FIFTH.— To Aguas Calientes, 
a very pretty town, with some handsome 
buildings. We met a gypsying or pic- 
nic party on the road, mounted on borricos 
[asses], with a mule packed with comestibles. A 
bevy of very pretty girls brought up the rear, un- 
der the escort of half-a-dozen exquisites of the 
town, got up in the latest fashion of the capital. 
Their monopoly of such a fair troop was not to 
be borne, and with tolerable impudence we stopped 
the party. The dandies, from our sunburnt and 
road-stained appearance and bristling arms, at 
once set us down as robbers, and without more ado 
turned their donkeys and retreated, leaving us 
masters of the field and the fair. With them our 
peace was soon made, and we received a pressing 
invitation to join the party, which, however, we 
were fain to decline, as our horses were sorely 
tired. They laughed heartily at the panic of 
their gallant escort, who were huddled together at 

a little distance, not knowing whether to advance 
142 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 143 

or retreat. I sent my mozo to them to say that 
the ladies required their presence; and we rode 
on to the town, where we found our mulada ar- 
rived and waiting our approach. 

In Aguas Calientes I was accosted by a negro, 
a runaway slave from the United States. He in- 
foiTned me he was cook at the house where the 
diligencia stopped, and that if I chose he would 
prepare a dinner for us, — roast-beef, &c., and all 
the " fixings " of an American feed. I gladly made 
the bargain, and proceeded to the house at the 
time appointed, but found the rascal had never 
been there, and dinner there was none. 

In the plaza is a column erected to some patriot 
or another, which is pointed out to the stranger as 
being muy flno. The pedestal is surmounted by 
geese with long claws like an eagle's, and hairy 
heads of dogs stick out of the sides. The most 
absurd thing I ever saw. 

^5th. — To the hacienda of La Punta, in a large 
plain where are several other plantations, and two 
rancherias celebrated as being the abode of a band 
of robbers called picos largos — longbills. In 
this day's journey of forty miles one of the horses 
died from fatigue and heat, and two others were 
scarcely able to finish the day's journey. 

26th. — To Zacatecas, through wild unculti- 
vated plains and sierras. On the road we passed 



144! ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

some abandoned copper-mines, where an old In- 
dian was picking for stray pieces of ore, of which 
a dream had promised the discovery. 

Zacatecas, a populous city of between 30,000 
and 40,000 inhabitants, is in the midst of one of 
the most valuable mining districts in Mexico. 
The country round it is wild and barren, but the 
rugged sierras teem with the precious metals. 
Near the town are several lakes or lagunes, which 
abound in muriate and carbonate of soda. The 
town itself is mean and badly built, the streets 
narrow and dirty, and the population bear a very 
bad character; which indeed is the case in all the 
mining-towns in the country, which is but natural 
from the very nature of their employment.* 

From this point the noxiedades poured upon us 
daily: "Los Indios! los Indios!** was the theme 
of every conversation. Thus early (it was a very 
early Indian season this year and the last) they 
had made their appearance in the immediate vicin- 
ity of Durango, killing the paisanos [country- 
men], and laying waste the haciendas and ranchos ; 
and it was supposed they would penetrate even 
farther into the interior. What a cosa de Mejico 
is this fact ! Five hundred savages depopulating 
a soi-disant civilised country, and with impunity! 

9!7th. — The road from Zacatecas to Fresnillo 
* From Hacienda de la Punta to Zacatecas, fifty miles. 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 145 

lies through a wild uncultivated country without 
inhabitants. We met a conduct a from the mines 
of Fresnillo, bearing bars of silver to the mint at 
Zacatecas. The wagon in which it was carried 
was drawn by six mules galloping at their utmost 
speed. Eight or ten men, with muskets between 
their knees, sat in the wagon, facing outwards, and 
as many more galloped alongside, armed to the 
teeth. Bands of robbers, three or four hundred 
strong, have been known to attack conductas from 
the mines, even when escorted by soldiers, engag- 
ing them in a regular stand-up fight. 

Fresnillo is a paltry dirty town, with the neigh- 
boring sierra honeycombed with mines, which are 
rich and yield considerable profits. A share which 
the government had in these mines yielded an an- 
nual revenue of nearly half a million of dollars ; 
but that short-sighted vampire, which sucks the 
blood of poor Mexico, eager to possess all the 
golden eggs at once, sold its interest for less than 
one year's income. Cosa de Mejico, here as every- 
where ! 

We were here very kindly invited to take up 
our abode, during our stay, in the hacienda of the 
mines ; the administrador of which is an American, 
and the officers mostly Spaniards. Enjoying their 
hospitality, we spent two or three days very pleas- 
antly, and were initiated into all the mysteries of 



146 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

mining. The process of extracting the metal 
from the ore is curious in the extreme, but its de- 
scription would require more science than I possess, 
and more space than I am able to afford. Two 
thousand mules are at daily work in the hacienda 
de beneficios, and 2500 men are employed in the 
mines. From this an idea may be formed of the 
magnitude of the works. The main shaft is 1200 
feet in depth, and a huge engine is constantly em- 
ployed removing water from the mines. This vast 
mass of machinery appeared to take care of itself, 
for I saw neither engineers nor others in the engine- 
house. There are many Cornishmen employed in 
the mines, who drink and fight considerably, but 
withal find time to perform double as much work 
as the Mexicans. The patio or yard of the 
hacienda de beneficios, where the porphyritic crush- 
ing-miUs are at work, contains 32,000 square 
yards. In undergoing one process, the crushed 
ore, mixed with copper and salt, is made into 
enormous mud puddings, and trodden out by mules, 
which are back deep in the paste ; indeed, the whole 
process of the beneficio, a purely chemical one, is 
most curious and worthy of attention. 

The miners are a most dissolute and vicious 
class of men, and frequently give great trouble to 
the officers of the hacienda. But for the firmness 
and presence of mind of the administrador, the 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 147 

^American gentleman before alluded to, the miners 
on more than one occasion would probably have 
sacked the hacienda. 

The Cornishmen, however, can always be relied 
on, their only fault being the love of fighting and 
whisky; and a depot of arms is kept in the haci- 
enda ready for any emergency. 

On a bare rock, which is entirely destitute of 
soil, the miners have formed a most beautiful and 
productive garden, the soil with which it is made 
having been conveyed to the spot on the backs 
of mules and donkeys; it is now luxuriant and 
thriving, although, I believe, but two years old, 
and is full of fruit-bearing trees of every descrip- 
tion. In the centre is a fountain and ornamental 
summer-house, and, curiously enough, this garden 
is the resort of flocks of humming-birds, which are 
rarely found on the neighboring plains. 

On the road between Zacatecas and Fresnillo, as 
I was jogging gently on, a Mexican mounted on a 
handsome horse dashed up and reined in suddenly, 
doffing his sombrero and saluting me with a 
" Buenos dias, cabaUero.^' He had ridden from 
Zacatecas for the purpose of trading with me for 
my sword, which he said he had heard of in that 
town as being something mui/ fino. Riding up to 
my left side, and saying, " Con sii licencia, cabal- 
lero — by your leave, my lord " — he drew the 



148 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

sword from its scabbard, and, flourishing it over 
his head, executed a neat demivolte to one side, 
and performed some most complicated manoeuvres. 
At first I thought it not unlikely that my friend 
might take it into his head to make oif with the 
sword, as his fresh and powerful animal could 
easily have distanced my poor tired steed, so I 
just slipped the cover from the lock of my car- 
bine, to be ready in case of need. But the Mexi- 
can, after concluding his exercise, and having tried 
the temper of the blade on a nepalo, rode up and 
returned the sword to its scabbard with a low 
bow, offering me at the same time his horse in ex- 
change for it, and, when that was of no avail, an- 
other and another ; horses, he assured me, " de la 
mejor sangre — of the best blood of the country," 
and of great speed and strength. 

On the 30th we left Eresnillo, having a journey 
of fifty-five miles before us to Zaina. The country 
is desolate and totally uncultivated, excepting 
here and there where a solitary hacienda or rancho 
is seen; these are all fortified, for we were now 
entering the districts which are annually laid 
waste by the Comanches. The haciendas are all 
surrounded by walls, and flanked with towers loop- 
holed for musketry. A man is always stationed 
on an eminence in the vicinity, mounted on a fleet 
horse, on the look-out for Indians; and on their 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 149 

approach a signal is given, and the peones, the 
laborers employed in the milpas, run with their 
families to the hacienda, and the gates are then 
closed and preparations made for defence. 

This morning I gave my horse Panchito a run, 
suelto, amongst the mules and loose animals, 
mounting Bayou Lobo, the tierra caliente horse 
which gave my mozo so severe a fall the day we left 
the capital. I had dismounted to tighten the 
girths a short time after leaving Fresnillo, and be- 
fore daylight, when, on remounting, the animal as 
usual set oif full gallop, and, being almost im- 
prisoned in my sarape, which confined my arms and 
legs, in endeavoring to throw my right leg over the 
saddle I pitched over on the other side and fell 
upon the top of my head, at the same moment that 
the horse kicked out and struck with great force on 
my left ear. I lay in the road several hours per- 
fectly insensible ; my servant imagined I was dead, 
and, dragging me on one side, rode on to overtake 
the Spaniard. However, showing signs of life, 
they placed me again in the saddle, and I rode on 
for several hours in a state of unconsciousness. 
My jaw was knocked on one side, and when I re- 
covered I had hard work to pull it into its former 
position : for days, however, I was unable to open 
it further than to admit a fork or a spoon; and 
as I had to ride forty-five miles the same day that 



150 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

I met with the accident, and under a burning sun, 
I thought myself fortunate in not being disabled 
altogether. 

Zaina is a very pretty little town surrounded 
with beautiful gardens. It is an isolated spot, and 
has little or no communication with other tov/ns. 

Oct, 1st. — To Sombrerete, distance thirty-four 
miles. The country became wilder, with less fer- 
tile soil, and entirely depopulated, as much from 
fear of Indians as from its natural unproductive- 
ness. Sombrerete was once a mining-place of some 
importance, and the Casa de la Diputacion de Mm- 
eriay a large handsome building, is conspicuous 
in the town. The sierra is still worked, but the 
veins are not productive. The veta negra de Som- 
brerete, the famous black vein of Sombrerete, 
yielded the greatest bonanzas * of any mine on 
the continent of America. It is now exhausted. 

2nd, — We left the usual road, and struck across 
the country to the Hacienda de San Nicolas, as I 
was desirous of passing through the tract of coun- 
try known as the Mai Pais, a most interesting 
volcanic region, a perfect terra incognita even to 
Mexicans ; and as to travellers, such rarce aves are 
as little known in these parts as in Timbuctoo. 

*When a rich vein or lode is struck in a mine yielding 
a large quantity of ore, such a fortunate event is termed 
" bonanza." 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 151 

We journeyed through a perfect wilderness of 
sierra, and chapparal thickly covered with nopalos 
and mezquite, which now became the characteristic 
tree. The high rank grass was up to our horses' 
bellies, and, matted with the bushes of mezquite 
and prickly pear, was difficult to make our way 
through. Hares and rabbits and javali, a species 
of wild hog, abounded, with quail and partridge, 
and many varieties of pigeons and doves. We 
passed on our left hand a curiously formed ridge, 
and a pyramidal hill which stood isolated in the 
plain, such as the ancient Mexicans made use of 
as pedestals for their temples, and which have 
been ingeniously described as artificial structures 
by writers on Mexican antiquities. This day's 
journey was long and fatiguing, as we had to 
make our way for the most part across a trackless 
country, striking a mule-path only within about 
fifteen miles of the hacienda. Our animals were 
completely exhausted when we reached it, having 
performed nearly sixty miles during the day. 

The Hacienda de San Nicolas is one of those 
enormous estates which abound in every part of 
Mexico, and which sometimes contain sixty and 
eighty square miles of land. Of course not a hun- 
dredth part is under cultivation ; but on some, im- 
mense herds of horses, mules, and cattle roam al- 
most wild, or rather did roam, for the Indians have 



152 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

carried oif incredible numbers. The hacienda it- 
self is generally surrounded by the huts of the 
peones. The laborers who are employed on the 
plantation exist in a kind of serfdom to the owners, 
and their collection of adobe hovels forms almost 
a town of itself. The haciendados live in almost 
feudal state, having their hundreds of retainers, 
and their houses fortified to repel the attacks of 
Indians or other enemies. 

On riding up to the gate of the hacienda we sur- 
prised two of the senoritas in dishabille, smoking 
their cigarros of ho j a — corn-shucks — on a stone 
bench in front of the house ; they instantly ran off 
like startled hares, so unexpected was the ap- 
parition of strange caballeros with a retinue of 
mozos, and, banging to the gate, reconnoitred us 
through the chinks. Nothing would induce them 
to reappear, so we withdrew, and sent one of the 
mozos on the forlorn hope of procuring admit- 
tance. With him they parleyed through the gate, 
and informed us, through him, that, as their padre 
was from home, they were unable to receive us 
within the castle, but that a stable was a la dis^ 
posicion de los caballeros, and a quarto [small 
house], used sometimes as a hen-house, and at 
others as a calf-pen, should be cleaned for their 
reception. With this we were fain to be content, 
and, as there was ample provision for our tired 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 153 

beasts, and a good corral, had no reason to com- 
plain, as sleeping in the air was no hardship in this 
climate. 

Presently, with the compliments of the ladies, 
an excellent supper made its appearance, comr 
prising a guisado of hare, frijoles, eggs, &c., and 
a delicious salad prepared by the fair hands of the 
sefioritas, and their regrets at the same time that 
the absence of their senor prevented them from 
having the pleasure of affording better accommo- 
dation. 

Srd. — Our road lay through the Mai Pais — 
the evil land (as volcanic regions are called by the 
Mexicans), which has the appearance of having 
been, at a comparatively recent period, the theatre 
of volcanic convulsions of an extraordinary na- 
ture. The convexity of the disturbed region en- 
ables one to judge of the extent of the convulsion, 
which reaches from the central crater to a distance 
of twelve or fourteen miles. 

The valley between two ridges or sierras is com- 
pletely filled up to nearly a level with the sierra 
itself; it is therefore impossible to judge of the 
height of the tract of ground raised by the vol- 
cano. The crater is about five or six hundred 
yards in circumference, and filled with a species 
of dwarf oak, mezquite, and cocoa trees, which 
grow out of the crevices of the lava. In it is a 



154^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

small stagnant lake, the water of which is green 
and brackish ; huge blocks of lava and scoria sur- 
round the lake, which is fringed with rank shrubs 
and cactus. It is a dismal, lonely spot, and the 
ground rumbles under the tread of the passing 
horse. A large crane stood with upraised leg on 
a rock in the pool, and a javali (wild pig) was 
wallowing near it in the mud. Not a breath of 
air ruffled the inky surface of the lake, which lay 
as undisturbed as a sheet of glass, save where here 
and there a huge water-snake glided across with 
uplifted head, or a duck swam slowly out from the 
shadow of the shrub-covered margin, followed by 
its downy progeny. 

I led my horse down to the edge of the water, 
but he refused to drink the slimy liquid, in which 
frogs, efts, and reptiles of every kind were darting 
and diving. Many new and curious water-plants 
floated near the margin, and one, lotus-leaved, with 
small delicate tendrils, formed a kind of net-work 
on the water, with a superb crimson flower, which 
exhibited a beautiful contrast with the inky black- 
ness of the pool. The Mexicans, as they passed 
this spot, crossed themselves reverently, and mut- 
tered an Ave Maria; for in the lonely regions of 
the Mai Pais, the superstitious Indian believes 
that demons and gnomes, and spirits of evil pur- 
poses have their dwelling-places, whence they not 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 155 

unfrequently pounce upon the solitary traveller, 
and bear him into the cavernous bowels of the 
earth. The arched roof of the prison-house re- 
sounding to the tread of their horses as they 
pass the dreaded spot, they mutter rapidly their 
prayers, and handle their amulets and charms to 
keep off the treacherous bogies who invisibly beset 
the path. 

The surrounding country is curiously disturbed, 
and the flow of the molten lava can easily be 
traced, with its undulations, even retaining the 
exact form of the ripple as it flowed down from 
the crater. Hollow cones appear at intervals 
like gigantic petrified bubbles, and extend far into 
the plain. Some of these, in shape like an inverted 
cup, are rent, and present large fissures, while 
others are broken in two, one half only remaining, 
which exhibit the thickness of the shell of basaltic 
lava to be only from one to three feet. 

We arrived at the rancho of La Punta in the 
afternoon, in time to witness the truly national 
sport of the colea de toros — in English, bull- 
tailing — for which some two or three hundred 
rancheros were assembled from the neighboring 
plantations. 

This rancho, in the fall of last year, was visited 
by the Comanches, who killed several of the un- 
fortunate peones, whom they caught in the road 



156 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

and at work in the milpas, and carried off all the 
stock belonging to the farm. On the spot where 
the rancheros were killed and scalped, crosses are 
erected, and the little piles of stones, which almost 
bury them, testify to the numerous Ave Marias 
and Pater Nosters which their friends have uttered 
when passing, in prayer for their souls in pur- 
gatory, and for each prayer have deposited at the 
foot of the cross the customary stone. 

Without warning, the Indians one day sud- 
denly appeared on the sierra, and swooped down 
upon the rancho. The men immediately fled and 
concealed themselves, leaving the women and chil- 
dren to their fate. Those who were not carried 
away were violated, and some pierced with arrows 
and lances and left for dead. The ranchero's wife 
described to me the whole scene, and bitterly ac- 
cused the men of cowardice in not defending the 
place. This woman, with two grown daughters 
and several smaller children, fled from the rancho 
before the Indians approached, and concealed 
themselves under a wooden bridge which crossed a 
stream near at hand. Here they remained for 
some hours, half dead with terror : presently some 
Indians approached their place of concealment: a 
young chief stood on the bridge and spoke some 
words to the others. All this time he had his 
piercing eyes bent upon their hiding-place, and 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 157 

had no doubt discovered them, but concealed his 
satisfaction under an appearance of indifference. 
He played with his victims. In broken Spanish 
they heard him express his hope " that he would 
be able to discover where the women were con- 
cealed — that he wanted a Mexican wife and some 
scalps." Suddenly he jumped from the bridge 
and thrust his lance under it with a savage whoop ; 
the blade pierced the woman's arm and she shrieked 
with pain. One by one they were drawn from 
their retreat. 

" Dios de mi alma! — what a moment was this ! " 
said the poor creature. Her children were sur- 
rounded by the savages, brandishing their toma- 
hawks, and she thought their last hour was come. 
But they all escaped with life, and returned to 
find their house plundered, and the corpses of 
friends and relations strewing the ground. 

" A2/ de mi! — what a day was this ! Y los hom- 
hres" she continued, " qui no son homhres? — And 
the men — who are not men — where were they.'* 
Escondidos como los ratones — hidden in holes 
like the rats. Mire! " she said, suddenly, and with 
great excitement : " look at these two hundred men, 
well mounted and armed, who are now so brave 
and fierce, running after the poor bulls ; if twenty 
Indians were to make their appearance, where 
would they be? Vai/a, vaya! " she exclaimed; 



158 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

" son cohrades " — they are cowards all of them. 

The daughter, who sat at her mother's feet dur- 
ing the recital, as the scenes of that day were re- 
called to her memory, buried her face in her 
mother's lap, and wept with excitement. 

To return to the toros. In a large corral, at 
one end of which was a little building, erected for 
the accommodation of the lady spectators, were 
enclosed upwards of a hundred bulls. Round the 
corral were the horsemen, all dressed in the pic- 
turesque Mexican costume, examining the animals 
as they were driven to and fro in the enclosure, 
in order to make them wild for the sport — alzar 
el corage. The ranchero himself, and his sons, 
were riding amongst them, armed with long lances, 
separating from the herd, and driving into another 
enclosure, the most active bulls. When all was 
ready, the bars were withdrawn from the entrance 
of the corral, and a bull driven out, who, seeing the 
wide level plain before him, dashed off at the top 
of his speed. With a shout, the horsemen pur- 
sued the flying animal, who, hearing the uproar 
behind him, redoubled his speed. Each urges his 
horse to the utmost, and strives to take the lead 
and be the first to reach the bull. In such a 
crowd, of course, first-rate horsemanship is re- 
quired to avoid accidents and secure a safe lead. 
For some minutes the troop ran on in a compact 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 159 

mass — a sheet could have covered the lot. En- 
veloped in a cloud of dust, nothing could be seen 
but the bull, some hundred yards ahead, and the 
rolling cloud. Presently, with a shout, a horse- 
man emerged from the front rank ; the women cried 
" mval " as, passing close to the stage, he was rec- 
ognised to be the son of the ranchera, a boy 
twelve years of age, sitting his horse like a bird, 
and swaying from side to side as the bull doubled, 
and the cloud of dust concealed the animal from 
his view. " Viva Pepito! 'viva! " shouted his 
mother, as she waved her reboso, to encourage the 
boy ; and the little fellow struck his spurs into his 
horse, and doubled down to his work manfully. 
But now two others are running neck and neck 
with him, and the race for the lead, and the first 
throw, is most exciting. The men shout, the 
women wave their rebosos, and cry out their 
names : " Alza — Bernardo — por mi amor, Jiuin 
Maria — Viva Pepitito! " they scream in intense 
excitement. The boy at length loses the lead to a 
tall fine-looking Mexican, mounted on a fleet and 
powerful roan stallion, who gradually, but surely, 
forges ahead. 

At this moment the sharp eyes of little Pepe 
observed the bull to turn at an angle from his for- 
mer course, which movement was hidden by the 
dust from the leading horseman. In an instant 



160 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

the boy took advantage of it, and, wheeling his 
horse at a right angle from his original course, 
cut off the bull. Shouts and vivas rent the air at 
sight of this skilful manoeuvre, and the boy, urg- 
ing his horse with whip and spur, ranged up to the 
left quarter of the bull, bending down to seize the 
tail, and secure it under his right leg, for the pur- 
pose of throwing the animal to the ground. But 
here Pepe's strength failed him in a feat which re- 
quires great power of muscle, and in endeavoring 
to perform it he was jerked out of his saddle, and 
fell violently to the ground, stunned and senseless. 
At least a dozen horsemen were now striving hard 
for the post of honor, but the roan distanced them 
all, and its rider, stronger than Pepe, dashed up 
to the bull, threw his right leg over the tail, which 
he had seized in his right hand, and, wheeling his 
horse suddenly outwards, upset the bull in the 
midst of his career, and the huge animal rolled over 
and over in the dust, bellowing with pain and 
fright. 

This exciting but dangerous sport exhibits the 
perfect horsemanship of the Mexicans to great ad- 
vantage. Their firm yet graceful seat excels 
everything I have seen in the shape of riding, and 
the perfect command which they have over their 
horses renders them almost a part of the animals 
they ride. Their seat is quite different from the 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 161 

" park-riding " of Mexico. The sport of colea 
lasts as long as a bull remains in the corral, so 
that at the conclusion, as may be imagined, the 
horses are perfectly exhausted. 

Another equestrian game is el gallo — the cock. 
In this cruel sport, an unfortunate rooster is tied 
by the legs to a tree, or to a picket driven in the 
ground, with its head or neck well greased. The 
horsemen, starting together, strive to be the first 
to reach the bird, and, seizing it by the neck, to 
burst the thongs which secure it, and ride oif with 
the prize. The well-greased neck generally slips 
through the fingers of the first who lay hold of it ; 
but, as soon as one is in possession, he rides off, 
pursued by the rest, whose object is to rescue the 
fowl. Of course in the contest which ensues the 
poor bird is torn to pieces ; the scraps of the body 
being presented by the fortunate possessors as a 
gage d'amour to their mistresses. 

The people in the rancho were so poor in 
comestibles, that we supped that night on beans 
and bread, and made our beds afterwards outside 
the door, where all night long continued such a 
clatter of women's tongues, such grunting of pigs, 
barking of curs, braying of borricos, &c., that I 
was unable to sleep until near morning, when, be- 
fore daylight, we were again in our saddles. 

Oct, 4ith, — At daybreak we came to a river. 



162 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

which, in the absence of a ferry, we swam with 
all our animals, both packed and loose. We 
passed through a flat country, entirely inundated, 
and alive with geese and gruyas. The latter bird, 
of the crane species, is a characteristic feature in 
the landscape of this part of Mexico. The corn- 
fields are visited by large flocks, and, as they fly 
high in the air, their peculiar melancholy note is 
constantly heard, both in the day and night, boom- 
ing over the plains. 

DuRANGO, the metropolis of northern Mexico, 
is situated near the root of the Sierra Madre, at 
the north-western corner of a large plain, poorly 
cultivated and sparsely inhabited. It is a pic- 
turesque city, with two or three large churches 
and some government buildings " fair to the eye 
but foul within," with a population of 18,000, 
17,000 of whom are rogues and rascals. Like all 
other Mexican cities, it is extremely dirty in the 
exterior, but the houses are clean and tidy within, 
always excepting government buildings. It is 
celebrated for its scorpions and bad pulque, and 
the enormous mass of malleable iron which rises 
isolated in the plain, about three miles from the 
town. This rock is supposed to be an aerolite, as 
its composition and physical character are iden- 
tical with certain aerolites which fell in 1751 in 
some part of Hungary, and analogous to the gen- 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 163 

eral character of others of the same nature, of 
which the aerolitic origin is equally certain and 
authenticated. It contains 75 per cent, of pure 
iron, according to the analysis of a Mexican chem- 
ist; and some specimens, which Humboldt pro- 
cured, were analysed by the celebrated Klaproth, 
with, I believe, the same result. 

Durango is distant hord the city of Mexico 500 
miles in a due course, or as the bird flies, but by the 
road must be upwards of 650 ; my reckoning makes 
it 665 — many miles, I have no doubt, too much or 
too little. Its elevation, according to Humboldt, 
is 6845 feet above the level of the sea, while that 
of Mexico is 7470, and La Villa de Leon 6027 
feet; thus showing that the table-land of Mexico 
does not decline so suddenly as is imagined. In- 
deed, excepting in the plains of Salamanca and 
Silao, there is no perceptible difference in the tem- 
perature, and I believe, in reality, but little of ele- 
vation, in the vast region between the capital and 
Chihuahua. 

Snow falls here occasionally, and the mercury is 
sometimes seen below the freezing point. For the 
greater part of the year, however, the heat is ex- 
cessive, when a low intermittent fever is prevalent, 
but rarely fatal. 

Durango is the seat of a bishopric, and the 
worthy prelate lately undertook a journey to 



164 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

Santa Fe, in New Mexico, which progress created 
a furore amongst the devout; and the good old 
man was glad to return with any hem to his gar- 
ment, so great was the respect paid to him. That 
he escaped the Apaches and Comanches is at- 
tributed to a miracle: the unfaithful assign the 
glory to his numerous escort. — Quien sdbef 

The City of Scorpions (as it is called) was in 
dread and expectation of an Indian invasion dur- 
ing my stay. Some five hundred Comanches were 
known to be in the vicinity towards the north- 
east; so, after a fanfarron of several days, and 
high mass in the church for the repose of those 
who were going to be killed, &c., the troops and 
valientes of the city, with beating drums and fly- 
ing colors, marched out to the south-west^ and hap- 
pened to miss " los barbaros,'* However, it saved 
them a sound drubbing, and the country the 
valientes who would have been killed; so the 
fatality was not much regretted, at least by the 
military, and the people of this time are accus- 
tomed to these " chances." — Cosas de Mejico. 

There is an English merchant in Durango, and 
one or two Germans and Americans. Their hos- 
pitality is unbounded. There is also a mint, the 
administrador of which is a German gentleman, 
who has likewise established a cotton-factory near 
the city, which is a profitable concern : y de mas — 



IN THE MINING COUNTRY 165 

(and moreover) — las Durangilenas son miiy Jiala- 
gilenas — (the ladies of Durango are very pretty). 
I stayed in the house of the widow of a Gachu- 
pin, whose motherly kindness to me, and excellent 
cooking taught her by her defunct sposo, is one 
of the most pleasurable memories I bear with me 
from Mexico, where a bastard and miserable imi- 
tation of the inimitable Spanish cuisine exists in 
all its deformity. 



CHAPTER XII 

TRIALS OP THE ROAD 

TRAVELLING in Mexico may be divided 
into two heads, viz. en grande (or en 
prince, as they say in France), or in the 
style of the homhre de jaqueta, which, however, 
although considered infra dig, in Spain, is, as far 
as the garment is concerned, the only correct cos- 
tume for the road in Mexico. The wealthy 
haciendado of the tierra caliente rolls along in his 
carretela drawn by half a dozen mules, his lady in 
more luxurious littera, while the gentlemen and 
solteros of the family — the bachelors — prance 
at the sides of the litter, mounted on their Puebla 
hacks, and arrayed in all the glory of buttons 
and embroidery. 

If the object be to see the country, and become 
acquainted with the people and their manners and 
customs, the traveller should, in the first place, 
leave in charge of the steward of the royal majl 
steam-ship, at Vera Cruz or Tampico, his English 
reserve and prejudice in the pocket of his tweed 

shooting-jacket; all of which, together with his 
166 



TRIALS OF THE ROAD 167 

Lincoln and Bennet and cockney notions, he must 
at once discard before leaving the steamer. Then, 
having donned a broad-brimmed Panama and white 
linen roundabout, he may forthwith deliver his let- 
ter to his consignee, and make up his mind to the 
enjoyment of unbounded hospitality for as long as 
he pleases; and the longer, the better pleased his 
entertainers: for here, it may be remarked, 
amongst the foreigners, the most genuine hospi- 
tality makes the stranger immediately at home, 
even in the city of the dreaded 'vomito. 

Here, if he has the good fortune to possess, at 
the bottom of an introductory letter, the talis- 
manic " open sesame " of Messrs. Coutts and Co., 
he will find that he has fallen on his legs indeed; 

and at the casa of los senores M and M 

he will be put in the way of equipping himself for 
any mode of travelling, whether jpor diligencia, by 
dilly; a cahallo, on horseback; or by lazy littera: 
in which last luxurious conveyance he can travel 
to Jalapa, and smoke and dream away his time, 
through the most picturesque scenery of the tierra 
caliente, which, of course, through the pendent 
curtains, he cannot get a glimpse of. 

If, too, Castillo, that prince of mozos, should 
happen, at the time of his departure, to have an 
inclination to visit his soft-eyed Jalapena, he may 
be as lucky as I was in securing his ciceroneship 



168 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

as far as the " Citj of the Mist " ; whence to the 
capital the coach is the safest and surest mode of 
transit. 

From Mexico to the north, a large escort is 
necessary to protect the traveller from the exac- 
tions of los cahalleros del camino — the highway- 
men; and if the journey is continued still farther 
towards the pole, a respectable force is absolutely 
indispensable, if he wish to arrive at his journey's 
end with the hair on the top of his head; for my 
passage, sm novedad,^ through that turbulous 
country is to be attributed alone to extraordinary 
good fortune, and so sharp a look-out as to render 
the journey anything but a mere pleasure-trip. 
Indeed, the traveller in any part of Mexico must 
ever bear in mind the wholesome Yankee saying, 
" Keep your primin' dry, and your eye skinned." 
It is not even saying too much to advise those who 
have never served an apprenticeship of hard 
knocks, and who would find no little difficulty in 
adopting their fastidious cuerpos (bodies) to the 
rough-and-tumble life they must necessarily lead, 
to confine their rambles to the well-steamered 
Rhine, or within the radius of the Messageries 
Royales and Lafitte's. 

It must be some time after the termination of 
the present war before the country will be fit to 

* In this case, without fatal accident, {Ed.) 



TRIALS OF THE ROAD 169 

travel over; for woe to the luckless wight whose 
turnip complexion and hair of the carrot's hue pro- 
claim him to be of Anglo-Saxon race, should he 
fall into the hands of a marauding party of dis- 
banded soldiers ! and the present bitter feeling of 
hostility to foreigners must pass away before it 
will be safe to show one's nose outside the gates of 
the larger cities. 

The usual mode of travelling long distances, by 
even the wealthiest of the male class, is invariably 
on horse or mule back, several sumpter-mules be- 
ing packed with the catre (bedstead), alforjas 
(saddle-bags), cantin (a portable canteen), bed, 
blankets, provisions, &c. ; whilst half a dozen serv- 
ants — - mozos — well mounted and armed, escort 
their lords and masters. The usual pay of these 
is one dollar a-day each, four shillings and a frac- 
tion of our money, with board wages of two rials 
— dos riales diarios por la comida — for which 
they always stipulate, saying that not even a 
lepero could live for less, a rial being equivalent 
to about sixpence. One of these is appointed 
captain, and to him is intrusted the payment of 
the road expenses, out of which, if he be " homhre 
de bien," i.e, an approved rascal, he manages to 
pouch another daily dollar, as perquisite for the 
confidence which he is supposed not to abuse. 

This rascal, or major-domo, if allowed to rob 



170 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

his master quietly and genteelly, is worthy of every 
trust, and will take especial care that his privilege 
is not trespassed upon by others ; therefore, says 
the proverb-loving Mexican, " Mas vale un ladron 
que viente picaros, — give me one honest robber be- 
fore twenty rogues ;" a distinction finely drawn 
upon the meaning of the terms. 

" Que comedor de maiz es aquel macho! valgame 
Dios, que cahe mas que tres olmudas! What a 
corn-eater is that little mule," said my mozo to 
me one day ; " Heaven save me, but he holds three 
almudas (about six pecks) at a bout! He is the 
one to eat. Every day he eats the same. Oh! 
what a macho is that ! " 

Every traveller has his macho, who eats treble 
allowance, or rather who eats one ration, while the 
price of the two imaginary ones finds its way into 
the pocket of the mozo. 

The captain is also invariably in league with the 
mesonero of the hostelry where you put up for the 
night; and his recommendations of extra feeds 
rouse you, rolled in sarape, as, hat in hand, he 
stands at the door of the quarto, with mine host 
looking over his shoulder, saying, — 

" Valgame, Don Jorge, que tengan mucha ham- 
bre las bestias! ya se acabo la cena: quiere su 
merced que les echo mas maizf — God save me, 



TRIALS OF THE ROAD 171 

Mr. George, what hungry bellies the animals have 
to-night ! — they have already gobbled up their 
suppers : will your worship please that I give them 
some more corn? Manana tenemos Jornada mwy 
largita, es preciso que comen hien — To-morrow 
we have a long little journey before us, and they 
had better eat plenty to-night." 

" Vaya! maldito" cries the tormented amo; 
" que comen mil fanegas si pueden! — Go to the 
devil, and let them eat a thousand sacks if they 
can ! " — and, covering his head with his sarape, 
soon snores, while his trustworthy mozo puts the 
price of two almudas in his pocket, and mine host 
the third for his share of the transaction. 

Thus it may be supposed that here the old adage 
is carried out which says that " con el ojo del amo 
se engorda el huey — with the master's eye the 
steer is fattened ; " and the traveller who loves to 
see his well-worked animals in good case, and dis- 
likes to draw his pursestrings every three or four 
days to pay for another and another fresh horse 
or mule, had better follow my practice, which was 
to put a puro in my mouth, take up a position on 
the manger, and watch that every measure was well 
filled, and eaten, before I paid attention to the 
wants of my own proper carcass, taking care to 
give but half the complement of corn at first, re- 



172 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

serving the remainder for night, and in the interval 
seeing that all the beasts were led to water for the 
second time. 

Heaven help the wight who trusts a Mexican! 
The following is the bill presented to me by my 
mozo the first and only time I ever trusted him 
with the ojffice of paymaster; and beneath is the 
amended or taxed bill, or rather the account of the 
night's expenditure as wrung from the unwilling 
mesonero after I had accused my worthy steward 
of peculation, and threatened summary chastise- 
ment. The copy is verbatim : — 

"Pago Jos4 Maria En el meson De la santisma vergen 
de guadalaxara Dos dias de comida Para El 4 reales dos 
Fane gas de mais cuatro Pesos yotras dos 4 pesos entrada 
de nueve Bestial dos Por una tres Reales tres comidas 
por mi cabayero dos Pesos por mi cabayero otra 3 Riales 
tres riales otra otra tres por mi cabayero cinco quartios 
pulque por mi cabayero paja nueve riales un medio por 
pulque otro mismo quarto tres dias 6 riales quarto un 
dia 2 Riales otro 2 otro 2. 

todo dies y ocTio Pesos, 
cinco Hales." 

TRANSLATION. 

"Joseph the son of Maria paid in the meson of the 
holiest virgin of Guadalaxara two days' board for himself 
4 reals two fanegas of corn four Dollars and another 4 
dollars entrance of nine Beasts two for one three Rials 
three dinners for my lord two dollars for my lord an- 
other three Rials 3 rials for another for my lord five 



TRIALS OF THE ROAD 173 

quarts of pulque for my Lord straw nine rials a medio for 
pulque another Rial room three days 6 rials room one day 
2 Rials other 2 other 2 Total eighteen Dollars 

five rials. 18p. 5r." 

AMENDED BILL. 

$ r. 
Servant's board for two days . . . . . ..04 

1% fanegas of corn 13 

My Lordship's chocolate and dinners for two days 1 

Pulque 3 

Straw for animals 4 

Hire of room 4 

Servant's ditto 4 



4 5 



Showing a difference of fourteen dollars on a bill 
of four, or eighteen shillings instead of '3Z. 19>s. 6d, 
So much for the honesty of " un hombre de bien "/ 
Either from ignorance of their duties or care- 
lessness, Mexican officials seldom trouble the trav- 
eller with demanding his passport. It is as well, 
however, to adhere to the law, and invariably to 
present it in the larger towns, where it may be 
presumed the Alcalde can decipher the name and 
rubrica of the ministro de las relaciones interiores. 
From the fact of so many English mining com- 
panies being dispersed throughout the country, 
whose wealth and respectable way of doing busi- 
ness are so apparent to the Mexicans, an English- 
man is pretty sure to receive attention from the 



174 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

authorities wherever he goes, and a British pass- 
port is a sure and certain safeguard from the in- 
solence and rapacity of Jacks-in-office, who have 
a wholesome dread of the far-reaching power of 
the " lion and unicorn " which head those vouch- 
safing documents. A carta de seguridad — let- 
ter of security — is also indispensable, by which 
the traveller's transit through the territory of the 
republic is sanctioned for the space of one year, 
at the termination of which period it has^ to be 
renewed, on presentation to the governor of the 
state in which he may happen to be. With cus- 
tom-house regulations there is no inconvenience, a 
mere form being gone through of opening one 
package in entering the capitals of the different 
states, and an opportunely applied dollar will in- 
variably smooth over any difficulty with regard tO' 
foreign tobacco. Sic, or any of the creature-com- 
forts in the shape of cognac or comestible luxuries, 
which the traveller will do well to carry with him. 

There is one axiom to be never lost sight of in 
journeying through Mexico. Carry everything 
with you that you can possibly require on the 
road, the only limit being the length of your purse, 
on which will depend your means of conveyance. 
An European stomach should hardly trust to the 
country cuisine. 

In Northern Mexico and California a custom 



TRIALS OF THE ROAD 175 

exists with both sexes of choosing a particular 
friend, seldom a relation, to whom the person at- 
taches himself in a bond of strict friendship, con- 
fiding to his or her care all his hopes and fears, 
secrets, &c., and seldom severing the tie, which gen- 
erally binds them together as long as life lasts. 
The compadre and commadre — literally god- 
father, and godmother — are consulted on every 
occasion, when advice on the important subject 
of love is required, and a nice sense of honor re- 
strains them from all betrayal of trust and con- 
fidence. They are likewise inseparable compan- 
ions, and their purses and property are ever at 
each other's service. Ask a man to lend you his 
horse; if not mounted on it himself, the chances 
are that he answers, " Lo tiene mi compadre — 
my godfather has it." It must be confessed, how- 
ever, that many peccadilloes are fathered on the 
compadre and commadre. To vouch for the cor- 
rectness of some story a New Mexican is telling 
you, he adds, " Pues^ si no cree su merced, pregunta 
a mi compadre — well, since your worship does not 
believe it, only ask my godfather." 

" Me dixo mi commadre — my godmother told 
me so " — says a girl to guarantee a bit of scan- 
dal. Thus compadres and commadres become a 
species of Mexican Mrs. Harris, who is appealed 
to on every occasion, and whose imaginary sa- 



176 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

gacity, profound wisdom, and personal beauty are 
on every occasion held up to the admiration of the 
credulous stranger. 

I mention this, here, because it very often hap- 
pens that when, on hiring a servant, credentials 
or reference as to his character are demanded of 
him, he immediately requests you to apply to his 
compadre, who of course swears that his friend 
is everything that is good and honest : ''Muy buen 
mozoy y homhre de hien," 



CHAPTER XIII 

WHEN THE INDIANS COME 

SOME of the tales which were narrated to 
me of the bloody deeds of the Comanches 
were so affecting and tragical, that they 
would form admirable themes for the composition 
of a romance. I may mention one, which was 
of very recent occurrence, and particularly in- 
terested me, as I passed the very spot where the 
tragical catastrophe occurred. I give the out- 
lines of the tale as it was told to me ; and any one 
in want of materials to work up an exciting melo- 
drama may help themselves to it con mucJia fra/rir 
queza. 

In a rancho situated in the valley of the Rio 
Florido, and nearly half-way between the cities 
of Durango and Chihuahua, lived a family of 
hardy vaqueros, or cattle-herders, the head of 
which was a sturdy old sexagenarian, known as 
El Coxo (the Game Leg). He rejoiced in a 
" quiver well filled with arrows," since eight fine 
strapping sons hailed him padre ; than any one of 
whom not a ranchero in the tierra afuera could 

177 



178 ABVENTURES IN MEXICO 

more dexterously colear * a bull, or at the game of 
gallo tear from its stake the unhappy fowl, and 
bear it safe from the pursuit of competitors, but 
piecemeal, to the feet of his admiring lady-love. 

Of these eight mozos, he who bore away the 
palm of rancheral superiority, but still in a very 
slight degree, was the third son, and the hand- 
somest (no little praise, where each and all laid 
claim to the title of huen mozo y guapo — good 
and strong servant), by name Escamilla, a proper 
lad of twenty, five feet ten out of his zapatos 
[shoes], straight as an organo, and lithesome as a 
reed. He was, moreover, more polished than the 
others, having been schooled at Queretaro, a city, 
in the estimation of the people of the tierra afuera, 
second only to Mejico itself. 

With his city breeding, he had of course im- 
bibed a taste for dress, and quite dazzled the eyes 
of the neighboring rancheras when, on his return 
to his paternal home, he made his first appearance 
at a grand funcion de toros in all the elaborate 
finery of a Queretaro dandy. In his first passage 
of arms he greatly distinguished himself, having 
thrown three bulls by the tail with consummate 
adroitness, and won enthusiastic " vivas " from the 

* To take a bull by the tail and, wliile running, overturn 
him. {Ed.) 



WHEN THE INDIANS COME 179 

muchachas, who graced with their presence the ex- 
citing sport. 

Close at the heels of Escamilla, and almost rival- 
ling him in good looks and dexterity, came Juan 
Maria, his next and elder brother, who, indeed in 
the eyes of the more practical vaqueros, far sur- 
passed his brother in manliness of appearance, and 
equalled him in horsemanship, wanting alone that 
" brilliancy of execution " which the other had ac- 
quired in the inner provinces, and in practice 
against the wilder and more active bulls of the 
tierra caliente. 

Now Juan Maria, hitherto the first at el gallo 
and bull-tailing, had always laid the trophies of 
the sport at the feet of one Ysabel Mora, called, 
from the hacienda where she resided, Ysabel de la 
Cadena, a pretty black-eyed girl of sixteen, the 
toast of the valleys of Nazos and Rio Florido, and 
celebrated even by the cant adores [minstrels] at 
the last fair of el Valle de San Bartolomo as " la 
moza mas guapa de la tierra afuera " [the fairest 
wench in the countryside]. It so happened that 
the last year, Ysabel had made her first appearance 
at a public funcion; and at this gallo she was 
wooed, and in a measure won, by the presentation 
of the remains of the gallant rooster at the hands 
of Juan Maria; who, his offering being well re- 



180 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

ceived, from that moment looked upon the pretty 
Ysabel as his corteja, or sweetheart; and she, 
nothing loth at having the properest lad of the 
valley at her feet, permitted his attentions, and 
apparently returned his love. 

To make, however, a long story short, the dandy 
Escamilla, who, too fine to work, had more time 
on his hands for courting, dishonorably sup- 
planted his brother in the affections of Ysabel; 
and as Juan Maria, too frank and noble-hearted 
to force his suit, at once gave way to his more 
favored brother, the affair was concluded between 
the girl and Escamilla, and a day named for the 
marriage ceremony, which was to take place at the 
hacienda of the bride, where, in honor of the occa- 
sion, a grand funcion de toros was to be held, at 
which all the neighbors (the nearest of whom was 
forty miles distant) were to be present, including, 
of course, the stalwart sons of El Coxo, the 
brothers of the bridegroom. 

Two or three days before the one appointed for 
the marriage, the father with his eight sons made 
their appearance, their gallant figures, as mounted 
on stout Californian horses they entered the 
hacienda, exacting a buzz of admiration from the 
collected rancheros. 

The next day El Coxo, with all his sons except- 
ing Escamilla, attended the master of the hacienda 



WHEN THE INDIANS COME 181 

into the plains, for the purpose of driving in the 
bulls which were required for the morrow's sport, 
while the other rancheros remained to complete 
a large corral which was destined to secure them ; 
El Coxo and his sons being selected for the more 
arduous work of driving in the bulls, since they were 
the most expert and best-mounted horsemen of the 
whole neighborhood. 

It was towards the close of the day, and the sun 
was fast sinking behind the rugged crest of the 
" Bolson," tinging the serrated ridge of that iso- 
lated mountain-chain with a golden flood of light, 
while the mesquite-covered plain beneath lay cold 
and grey under the deep shadow of the sierra. 
The shrill pipe of the quail was heard, as it called 
together the bevy for the night ; hares lim.ped out 
of the thick cover and sought their feeding- 
grounds ; overhead the melancholy cry of the 
gruyas sounded feebly in the aerial distance of 
their flight; the lowing of cattle resounded from 
the banks of the arroyo, where the herdsmen were 
driving them to water ; the peones, or laborers of 
the farm, were quitting the milpas, and already 
seeking their homes, where, at the doors, the 
women with naked arms were pounding the tor- 
tillas on the stone metate, in preparation for the 
evening meal ; and the universal quiet, and the soft 
and subdued beams of the sinking sun, which shed 



183 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

a chastened light over the whole landscape, pro- 
claimed that the day was drawing to a close, and 
that man and beast were seeking the well-earned 
rest after their daily toil. 

The two lovers were sauntering along, careless 
of the beauty of the scene and hour, and conscious 
of nothing save their own enraptured thoughts, 
and the aerial castles, which probably both were 
building, of future happiness and love. 

As they strolled onward, a little cloud of dust 
arose from the chapparal in front of them ; and in 
the distance, but seemingly in another direction, 
they heard the shouts of the returning cowherds, 
and the thundering tread of the bulls they were 
driving to the corral. In advance of these was 
seen one horseman, trotting quickly on towards the 
hacienda. 

Nevertheless the cloud of dust before them rolled 
rapidly onwards, and presently several horsemen 
emerged from it, galloping towards them in the 
road. 

" Here come the bullfighters," exclaimed the 
girl, withdrawing her waist from the encircling 
arm of Escamilla ; " let us return." 

" Perhaps they are my brothers," answered he ; 
and continued, " Yes, they are eight : look." 

But what saw the poor girl, as, with eyes almost 
starting from her head, and motionless with sud- 



WHEN THE INDIANS COME 183 

den fear, she directed her gaze at the approaching 
horsemen, who now, turning a bend in the chap- 
paral, were within a few hundred yards of them! 

Escamilla followed the direction of the gaze, and 
one look congealed the trembling coward. A band 
of Indians were upon them. Naked to the waist, 
and painted horribly for war, with brandished 
spears they rushed on. Heedless of the helpless 
maid, and leaving her to her fate, the coward 
turned and fled, shouting as he ran the dreaded 
signal of " Los barbaros! los barbaros! " 

A horseman met him — it was Juan Maria, who, 
having lassoed a little antelope on the plains, had 
ridden in advance of his brothers to present it to 
the false but unfortunate Ysabel. The exclama- 
tions of the frightened Escamilla, and one glance 
down the road, showed him the peril of the poor 
girl. Throwing down the animal he was carefully 
carrying in his arms, he dashed the spurs furiously 
into the sides of his horse, and rushed like the wind 
to the rescue. But already the savages were upon 
her, with a whoop of bloodthirsty joy. She, cov- 
ering her face with her hands, shrieked to her old 
lover to save her : — " Salva me, Juan Maria, por 
Dios, salva me! " At that moment the lance of 
the foremost Indian pierced her heart, and in an- 
other her reeking scalp was brandished exultingly 
aloft by the murderous savage. 



184i ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

Shortlived, however, was his triumph: the clat- 
ter of a galloping horse thundered over the ground, 
and caused him to turn his head. Almost bound- 
ing through the air, and in a cloud of dust, with 
ready lasso swinging round his head, Juan Maria 
flew, alas! too late, to the rescue of the unhappy 
maiden. Straight upon the foremost Indian he 
charged, regardless of the flight of arrows with 
which he was received. The savage, terrified at the 
wild and fierce look of his antagonist, turned to 
fly ; but the open coil of the lasso whirled from the 
expert hand of the Mexican, and the noose fell over 
the Indian's head, and, as the thrower passed in 
his horse's stride, dragged him heavily to the 
ground. 

But Juan Maria had fearful odds to contend 
against, and was unarmed, save by a small machete, 
or rusty sword. But with this he attacked the 
nearest Indian, and, succeeding in bringing him 
within reach of his arm, clove his head by a sturdy 
stroke, and the savage dropped dead from his 
horse. The others, keeping at a distance, assailed 
him with arrows, and already he was pierced with 
many bleeding wounds. Still the gallant fellow 
fought bravely against the odds, and was encour- 
aged by the shouts of his father and brothers, who 
were galloping, with loud cries, to the rescue. At 
that moment an arrow, discharged at but a few 



WHEN THE INDIANS COME 185 

paces' distance, buried itself to the feathers in his 
breast, and the brothers reached the spot but in 
time to see Juan Maria fall from his horse, and his 
bloody scalp borne away in triumph by a naked 
savage. 

The Indians at that moment were reinforced by 
a body of some thirty or forty others, and a fierce 
combat ensued between them and Coxo and his 
sons, who fought with desperate courage to avenge 
the murder of Juan Maria and the poor Ysabel. 
Half a dozen of the Comanches bit the dust, and 
two of the Mexicans lay bleeding on the ground; 
but the rancheros, coming up from the hacienda 
in force, compelled the Indians to retreat, and, as 
night was coming on, they were not pursued. On 
the ground lay the still quivering body of the girl, 
and the two Indians near her who were killed by 
Juan Maria. One of them had his neck broken 
and his brains dashed out by being dragged over 
the sharp stones by the horse of the latter, the 
lasso being fast to the high pommel of the saddle. 
This Indian still held the long raven scalp-lock 
of the girl in his hand. Juan Maria was quite 
dead, and pierced with upwards of twenty bleeding 
wounds ; two of his brothers were lying dangerously 
wounded; and six Indians, besides the two killed 
by Juan Maria, fell by the avenging arms of El 
Coxo and his sons. The bodies of Ysabel and 



186 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

Juan Maria were borne by the rancheros to the 
hacienda, and both were buried the next day side 
by side, at the very hour when the marriage was 
to have been performed. Escamilla, ashamed of 
his base cowardice, disappeared, and was not seen 
for some days, when he returned to his father's 
rancho, packed up his things, and returned to 
Queretaro, where he married shortly after. 

Just twelve months after the above tragical 
event occurred, I passed the spot. About three 
hundred yards from the gate of the hacienda were 
erected, side by side, two wooden crosses, roughly 
hewn out of a log of pine. On one, a rudely-cut 
inscription, in Mexico-Castilian, invites the passer- 
by to bestow 

" Un Ave Maria y un Pater Noster 

For el alma de Ysabel Mora, 
Qui a los manos de los barbaros cayo muerta, 

El dia 11 de Octubre, el ano 1845, 
En la flor de su juventud y hermosura." 

" One Ave Maria and a Pater Noster for the repose of 
the soul of Ysabel Mora, who fell by the hands of the bar- 
barians on the 11th of October of the year 1845, and in 
the flower of her youth and beauty." 

On the other — 

"Aqui yace Juan Maria Orteza, 

Vecino de , 

Matado por los barbaros, el dia 11 de Octubre, 

del ano 1845. 
0ra ppr el, Cristiano, por Dios." 



WHEN THE INDIANS COME 187 

"Here lies Juan Maria Orteza, native of , killed by 

the barbarians on the 11th of October, 1845. 
"Christian, for the sake of God, pray for his soul." 

The goodly piles of stones, to which I added 
my offering, at the feet of both crosses, testify 
that the invocation has not been neglected, and 
that many an Ave Maria and Pater Noster has 
been breathed, to release from purgatory the souls 
of Ysabel and Juan Maria, 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 

THE city of Durango * may be considered 
as the Ultima Thule of the civilised por- 
tion of Mexico. Beyond it, to the north 
and north-west, stretch away the vast uncultivated 
and unpeopled plains of Chihuahua, the Bolson de 
Mapimi, and the arid deserts of the Gila. In the 
oases of these, wild and hostile tribes of Indians 
have their dwelling-places, from which they con- 
tinually descend upon the border settlements and 
haciendas, sweeping off the herds of horses and 
mules, and barbarously killing the unarmed peas- 
antry. This warfare — if warfare it can be 
called, where the aggression and bloodshed are on 
one side only, and passive endurance on the other 
— has existed from immemorial time ; and the won- 
der is that the country has not long since been 
abandoned by the persecuted inhabitants, who at 
all seasons are subject to their attacks. 

* The city was founded in 1559, by Velasco el Primero, 
Viceroy of New Spain, previous to which it was a presidio, 
or fortified post, to protect the frontier from the incursions 
of the Indians (Chichimees). 

188 



THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 189 

The Apaches, whose country borders upon the 
department of Durango, are untiring and inces- 
sant in their hostility against the whites ; and, be- 
ing near neighbors, are enabled to act with great 
rapidity against the haciendas and ranchos on 
the frontier. They are a treacherous and cow- 
ardly race of Indians, and seldom attack even 
the Mexican save by treachery and ambuscade. 
When they have carried off a number of horses 
and mules sufficient for their present wants, 
they send a deputation to the governors of Dur- 
ango and Chihuahua to express their anxiety for 
peace. This is invariably granted them, and then 
en paz they resort to the frontier villages, and 
even the capital of the department, for the pur- 
pose of trade and amusement. The animals they 
have stolen in Durango and Chihuahua they find a 
ready market for in New Mexico and Sonora ; and 
this traffic is most unblushingly carried on, and 
countenanced by the authorities of the respective 
states. 

But the most formidable enemy, and most feared 
and dreaded by the inhabitants of Durango and 
Chihuahua, are the warlike Comanches, who, from 
their distant prairie country beyond the Del Norte 
and Rio Pecos, at certain seasons of the year, and 
annually, undertake regularly organised expedi- 
tions into these states, and frequently far into the 



190 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

interior (as last year to the vicinity of Sombre- 
rete), for the purpose of procuring animals and 
slaves, carrying oiF the young boys and girls, and 
massacring the adults in the most wholesale and 
barbarous manner. 

So regular are these expeditions, that in the 
Comanche calendar the month of September is 
known as the Mexico moon, as the other months 
are designated the buffalo moon, the young bear 
moon, the corn moon, &c. They generally invade 
the country in three different divisions, of from 
two to five hundred warriors in each. One, the 
most southern, passes the Rio Grande between the 
old presidios of San Juan and the mouth of the 
Pecos, and harries the fertile plains and wealthy 
haciendas of El Valle de San Bartolomo, the Rio 
Florido, San Jose del Parral, and the Rio Nasas. 
Every year their incursions extend farther into 
the interior, as the frontier haciendas become de- 
populated by their ravages, and the villages de- 
serted and laid waste. For days together, in the 
Bolson de Mapimi, I traversed a country com- 
pletely deserted on this account, passing through 
ruined villages untrodden for years by the foot of 
man. 

The central division enters between the Presidio 
del Norte and Monclova, where they j oin the party 
coming in from the north, and, passing the moun- 



THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 191 

tains of Mapimi and traversing a desert country 
destitute of water, where they suffer the greatest 
privations, ravage the valleys of Mapimi, Guajo- 
quilla, and Chihuahua, and even the haciendas at 
the foot of the Sierra Madre. It appears incredi- 
ble that no steps are taken to protect the country 
from this invasion, which does not take the in- 
habitants on a sudden or unawares, but at certain 
and regular seasons and from known points. 
Troops are certainly employed nominally to check 
the Indians, but very rarely attack them, although 
the Comanches give every opportunity ; and, thor- 
oughly despising them, meet them on the open 
field, and with equal numbers almost invariably 
defeat the regular troops. The people themselves 
are unable to offer any resistance, however well 
inclined they may be to do so, as it has always 
been the policy of the government to keep them un- 
armed; and, being unacquainted with the use of 
weapons, when placed in their hands, they have no 
confidence, and offer but a feeble resistance. So 
perfectly aware of this fact are the Comanches, 
that they never hesitate to attack superior num- 
bers. When in small parties the Mexicans never 
resist, even if armed, but fall upon their knees and 
cry for mercy. Sometimes, however, goaded by 
the murder of their families and friends, the 
rancheros collect together, and, armed with bows 



192 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

and arrows and slings and stones, go out to meet 
the Indians (as occurred when I was passing), 
and are slaughtered like sheep. 

In the fall of last year, 1845, and at the present 
moment, 1846, the Indians have been more 
audacious than ever was known in previous years. 
It may be, that in the present instance they are 
rendered more daring by the knowledge of the war 
between the United States and Mexico, and the 
supposition that the troops would consequently be 
withdrawn from the scene of their operations. 
They are now (September) overrunning the whole 
department of Durango and Chihuahua, have cut 
off all communication, and defeated in two pitched 
battles the regular troops sent against them. Up- 
wards of ten thousand head of horses and mules 
have already been carried off, and scarcely has a 
hacienda or rancho on the frontier been unvisited, 
and everywhere the people have been killed or cap- 
tured. The roads are impassable, all traffic is 
stopped, the ranches barricaded, and the inhabit- 
ants afraid to venture out of their doors. The 
posts and expresses travel at night, avoiding the 
roads, and intelligence is brought in daily of 
massacres and harryings. 

My servants refused to proceed farther; nor 
would money induce a Durangueno to risk his 
scalp. Every one predicted certain destruction if 



THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 193 

I ventured to cross the plains to Chihuahua, as 
the road lay in the very midst of the scenes of the 
Indian ravages. My hostess, with tears in her 
eyes, implored me not to attempt the j ourney ; but 
my mind was made up to proceed, and alone, if I 
could not induce a mozo to accompany me. I 
had resolved to reach New Mexico by a certain 
time, and in travelling through a dangerous coun- 
try laid it down as a principle not to be deterred 
by risks, but to " go ahead," and trust to fortune 
and a sharp look-out. 

I had made preparations for my departure, and 
had given up any hope of procuring a mozo, when, 
at the eleventh hour, one presented himself, in the 
person of one of the most rascally-looking natives 
that ever stuck knife into his master. Asking him 
what induced him to run the risk of accompanying 
me, he answered that, being " muy pobre " [very 
poor] and unable to procure a living (the road was 
shut to him), and hearing that " su merced " — my 
worship — had offered high wages, he had deter- 
mined to volunteer ; being, moreover, as he assured 
me, " muy valient e y aficionado a mane jar las 
armas — very valiant and accustomed to the use 
of arms." The end of it was that I engaged him, 
although the man bore a notoriously bad charac- 
ter, and was more than suspected of being a ladron 
of the worst description. But it was Hobson's 



194 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

choice at the time, and I did not hesitate to take 
him, trusting to myself to take care that he did 
not play me false. I was, however, a little shaken 
when the same evening a man accosted me as I was 
walking in the streets with an English, gentleman, 
a resident in Durango, and informed me that my 
new mozo was at that moment in a pulque-shop, 
where, after imbibing more than was good for him, 
he had confided to a friend, and in the hearing of 
the man who now gave the information, his inten- 
tion to ease me of my goods and chattels and ani- 
mals, premising that, as he had heard from my 
late servants that I intrusted my mozo with arms 
and generally rode in advance, it would be an easy 
matter some fine morning to administer wn pistol- 
etazo en la espalda — a pistol-ball in my back — 
and make off with the property to Chihuahua or 
Sonora, where he would have no difficulty in dis- 
posing of the plunder. However, I paid no atten- 
tion to this story, thinking that, if true, it was 
merely a drunken boast. 

As Durango may be called the limit of Mexico 
proper and its soi-disant civilization, it may not 
be out of place to take a hasty glance at the gen- 
eral features of the country, the social and moral 
condition of the people, and the impressions con- 
veyed to my mind in my journey through it. 

There are many causes, physical and moral, 



THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 195 

which prevent Mexico from progressing in pros- 
perity and civilization. Although possessing a 
vast territory, which embraces all the varieties of 
climate of the temperate and torrid zones, with a 
rich and prolific soil capable of yielding every 
natural production of the known world, yet these 
natural advantages are counter-balanced by ob- 
stacles, which prevent their being as profitable to 
the inhabitants as might naturally be expected, 
and in a great measure render them negative and 
of no avail. 

A glance at the physical geography of Mexico 
will show that the extensive and fertile table-lands 
of the central region are isolated, and, as it were, 
cut off from communication with the coast, by 
their position on the ridge of the Cordilleras, and 
the insurmountable obstacles to a practicable traf- 
fic presented by the escarpments of the terraces, 
the steps, as it were, from the elevated table-lands 
to the maritime districts, and the tropical regions 
of the interior. The country is also destitute of 
navigable rivers, and possesses but two of even 
moderate size — the Rio Grande del Norte, which 
runs into the Gulf of Mexico, and the Rio Grande, 
or Colorado of the West, which falls into the Pacific 
Ocean. Its eastern coast is swept at certain sea- 
sons by fearful tempests, and presents not one 
sheltering harbor or secure roadstead. The trop- 



196 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

ical region, subject to fatal malaria, is almost ex- 
cluded to the settlement of the white population, 
and consequently its natural riches are almost en- 
tirely neglected and unappropriated. Moreover, 
when we look at the component parts of the pop- 
ulation of this vast country, we are at no loss to 
account for the existing evils — the total absence 
of government, and the universal demoralization 
and want of energy, moral and physical, which is 
ever3rwhere apparent. 

The entire population is about eight millions, 
of which three-fifths are Indians, or of Indian 
origin, and Indios Bravos, or barbarous tribes; 
the remainder of Spanish descent. This popula- 
tion is scattered over an area of 1,31^,850 square 
miles, in departments widely separated, and having 
various and distinct interests, the intercommunica- 
tion insecure, and a large proportion in remote 
regions, beyond the care or thought of an impo- 
tent government. 

The vast table-land which stretches along the 
ridge of the Cordillera of Anahuac, although pos- 
sessing tracts of great fertility, is not, in itself, 
the rich and productive region it is generally rep- 
resented to be. The want of fuel and water must 
always prevent its being otherwise than thinly in- 
habited, and these great drawbacks to the popula- 
tion and cultivation of these districts would ap- 



THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 197 

pear to be insurmountable. I believe the capabili- 
ties of the whole country to be much overrated, al- 
though its mineral wealth alone must always render 
it of great importance ; but it is a question whether 
the possession of mineral wealth conduces to the 
wellbeing of a country. The working of mines of 
the precious metal in Mexico, however, has cer- 
tainly caused many spots to be cultivated and in- 
habited, which would otherwise have been left 
sterile and unproductive, and has been the means 
of giving employment to the Indians, and in some 
degree has partially civilized them, where other- 
wise they would have remained in their original 
state of barbarism and ignorance. 

The Mexicans, as a people, rank decidedly low 
in the scale of humanity. They are deficient in 
moral as well as physical organization : by the lat- 
ter I do not mean to assert that they are wanting 
in corporeal qualities, although certainly inferior 
to most races in bodily strength ; but there is a de- 
ficiency in that respect which is invariably found 
attendant upon a low state of moral or intellectual 
organization. They are treacherous, cunning, in- 
dolent, and without energy, and cowardly by na- 
ture. Inherent, instinctive cowardice is rarely met 
with in any race of men, yet I affirm that in this 
instance it certainly exists, and is most conspicu- 
ous ; they possess at the same time that amount of 



198 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

brutish indiiference to death which can be turned 
to good account in soldiers, and I believe, if prop- 
erly led, that the Mexicans would on this account 
behave tolerably well in the field, but not more 
than tolerably. 

It is a matter of little astonishment to me that 
the country is in the state it is. It can never pro- 
gress or become civilized until its present popula- 
tion is supplanted by a more energetic one. The 
present would-be republican form of government 
is not adapted to such a population as exists in 
Mexico, as is plainly evident in the effects of the 
constantly recurring revolutions. Until a people 
can appreciate the great principles of civil and re- 
ligious liberty, the advantages of free institutions 
are thrown away upon them. A long minority has 
to be passed through before this can be effected; 
and in this instance, before the requisite fitness can 
be attained, the country will probably have passed 
from the hands of its present owners to a more 
able and energetic race. 

On the subject of government I will not touch: 
I maintain that the Mexicans are incapable of self- 
government, and will always be so until regener- 
ated. The separation from Spain has been the 
ruin of the country, which, by the by, is quite 
ready to revert to its former owners ; and the pre- 
vailing feeling over the whole country inclines to 



THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 199 

the re-establishment of a monarchical system. 
The miserable anarchy which has existed since its 
separation, has sufficiently and bitterly proved to 
the people the inadequacy of the present one ; and 
the wonder is, that, with the large aristocratic 
party which so greatly preponderates in Mexico 
(the army and the church), this much-to-be-de- 
sired event has not been brought about. 

The cause of the two hundred and thirty -seven 
revolutions which, since the declaration of its in- 
dependence, have that number of times turned the 
country upside down, has been individual ambi- 
tion and lust of power. The intellectual power is 
in the hands of a few, and by this minority all the 
revolutions are effected. The army once gained 
over (which, by the aid of bribes and the priest- 
hood, is an easy matter), the wished-for consum- 
mation is at once brought about. It thus happens 
that, instead of a free republican form of govern- 
ment, the country is ruled by a most perfect mili- 
tary despotism. 

The population is divided into but two classes 
— ■ the high and the low : there is no intermediate 
rank to connect the two extremes, and conse- 
quently the hiatus between them is deep and 
strongly marked. The relation subsisting be- 
tween the peasantry and the wealthy haciendados, 
or landowners, is a species of serfdom, little better 



200 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

than slavery itself. Money, In advance of wages, 
is generally lent to the peon or laborer, who is by 
law bound to serve the lender, if required, until 
such time as the debt is repaid; and as care is 
taken that this shall never happen, the debtor re- 
mains a bondsman to the day of his death. 

Law or justice hardly exists in name even, and 
the ignorant peasantry, under the priestly thral- 
dom which holds them in physical as well as moral 
bondage, have neither the energy nor courage to 
stand up for the amelioration of their condition, 
or the enjoyment of that liberty, which it is the 
theoretical boast of republican governments their 
system so largely deals in, but which, in reality, is 
a practical falsehood and delusion. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 

ON the 10th I left Durango for Chihuahua 
and New Mexico, taking with me the 
mozo I have before mentioned as bear- 
ing anything but a good character. The first 
day's march led through a wild uncultivated coun- 
try, with large plains of excellent pasture, but not 
a symptom of cultivation. We stopped at night 
at the hacienda of El Chorro, a little hamlet of 
adobe huts surrounding the casa grande of the 
plantation. As we arrived, the rancheros were 
driving in an immense cavalcade or herd of horses 
from the pastures, to be secured during the night 
in the corrals and near the hacienda, por las nove- 
dades que hay — on account of the novelties (». e. 
Indians) which are abroad — as the proprietor 
informed me. The vicinity of the hacienda 
abounds in salitrose springs and deposits of muri- 
ate of soda, to which the horses and mules were 
constantly breaking away, and drinking the water, 
and licking the earth with the greatest avidity. 
Distance from Durango twenty-eight miles. 

Ylth, — r To the rancho of Los Sauces — the 
201 



202 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

willows. The plains to-day were covered with 
cattle, and horses and mules. In the morning I 
was riding slowly ahead of my ca^allada, passing 
at the time through a lonely mesquite-grove, when 
the sudden report of a fire-arm, and the whistling 
of a bullet past my head at rather unpleasantly 
close quarters, caused me to turn sharply round, 
when I saw my amiable mozo with a pistol in his 
hand, some fifteen yards behind me, looking very 
guilty and foolish. To whip a pistol out of my 
holsters and ride up to him was the work of an 
instant ; and I was on the point of blowing out his 
brains, when his terrified and absurdly guilty- 
looking face turned my ire into an immoderate 
fit of laughter. 

" Amigo,'' I said to him, " do you call this being 
skilled in the use of arms, to miss my head at fif- 
teen yards ? " 

" Ah cahallerol in the name of all the saints I 
did not fire at you, but at a duck which was fly- 
ing over the road. No lo cree sii merced — your 
worship cannot believe I would do such a thing." 
Now it so happened, that the pistols, which I had 
given him to carry, were secured in a pair of 
holsters tightly buckled and strapped round his 
waist. It was a difficult matter to unbuckle them 
at any time ; and as to his having had time to get 
one out to fire at a duck flying over the road, it 



THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 203 

was impossible, even if such an idea had occurred 
to him. I was certain that the duck was a fable, 
invented when he had missed me, and, in order to 
save my ammunition, and my head from another 
sportsmanlike display, I halted and took from 
him everything in the shape of offensive weapon, 
not excepting his knife ; and wound up a sermon, 
which I deemed it necessary to give him, by ad- 
ministering a couple of dozen, well laid on with the 
buckle-end of my surcingle, at the same time giving 
him to understand, that if, hereafter, I had reason 
to suspect that he had even dreamed of another 
attempt upon my life, I would pistol him without 
a moment's hesitation. — Distance from El Chorro 
thirty-six miles. 

l^th. — To the rancho of Yerbaniz, through the 
same uncultivated plains, surrounded by sierras, 
and passing by a ridge from one into another, each 
being as like the other as twins. For a thousand 
miles the aspect of these plains never varied, and 
the sketch of the plain of Los Sauces would an- 
swer for the plain of El Paso, and every intermedi- 
ate one between Durango and New Mexico. At 
daybreak this morning I descried three figures, 
evidently armed and mounted men, descending a 
ridge and advancing towards me. As in this coun- 
try to meet a living soul on the road is perhaps 
to meet an enemy thirsting for your property or 



a04^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

your life, I stopped my animals, and, uncovering 
my rifle, rode on to reconnoitre. The strangers 
also halted on seeing me, and, again moving on 
when they saw me alone, we advanced, cautiously 
and prepared, towards each other. As they drew 
near I at once saw by the heavy rifle which each 
carried across his saddle-bow that they were from 
New Mexico, and that one was a white man. He 
proved to be a German named Spiers, who was on 
his way to the fair of San Juan with a caravan 
of nearly forty wagons loaded with merchandise 
from the United States. He had left the frontier 
of Missouri in May, crossing the grand prairies 
to Santa Fe, and, learning that his American 
teamsters would not be permitted to enter 
Durango, he had ridden on in advance to obtain 
permission for their admittance. His wagons had 
been nearly six months on the road, travelling the 
whole time, and were now a few miles behind them. 
He gave a dismal account of the state of the coun- 
try through which I was about to pass. The 
Comanches were everywhere, and two days before 
had killed two of his men ; and not a soul ventured 
out of his house in that part of the country. He 
likewise said it was impossible that I could reach 
Chihuahua alone, and urged me strongly to re- 
turn. The runaway Governor of New Mexico, 
General Armijo, was travelling in company with 



THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 205 

his caravan, on his way to Mexico, to give an ac- 
count of his shameful cowardice in surrendering 
Santa Fe to the Americans without a show of re- 
sistance. 

A little farther on I saw the long line of wagons, 
like ships at sea, crossing a plain before me. 
They were all drawn by teams of eight fine mules, 
and under the charge and escort of some thirty 
strapping young Missourians, each with a long 
heavy rifle across his saddle. I stopped and had 
a long chat with Armijo, who, a mountain of fat, 
rolled out of his American Dearborn, and inquired 
the price of cotton goods in Durango, he having 
some seven wagon-loads with him, and also what 
they said, in Mexico, of the doings in Santa Fe, 
alluding to its capture by the Americans without 
any resistance. I told him that there was but one 
opinion respecting it expressed all over the coun- 
try — that General Armi j o and the New Mexicans 
were a pack of arrant cowards ; to which he an- 
swered, " Adios ! They don't know that I had but 
75 men to fight 3000. What could I do?"* 

* The facts are that an American expedition, called the 
" Army of the West," under Col. Stephen W. Kearney, was 
sent, in April, 1846, to invade New Mexico, Chihuahua, and 
California. The entire command numbered 1,558, with 16 
pieces of artillery. On its approach to Santa Fe, the Mex- 
ican commander. Gen. Manuel Armijo, incontinently fled. 
{Ed.) 



£06 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

Twenty-one of the teamsters belonging to this 
caravan had left it a few days previously, with the 
intention of returning to the United States by 
the way of Texas. What became of them will be 
presently narrated. 

After leaving the caravan I saw a herd of 
herendos (antelope) in the plain, but was unable 
to get within shot, the ground being destitute of 
cover, and the animals very wild. We were now 
in the country of large game, deer and antelope 
being abundant in the plains, and bears occasion- 
ally met with in the sierras. 

This night I encamped near a rancho, being re- 
fused admittance into the building, and picketed 
my animals around the camp. I had also a dis- 
agreement with an arriero, whom I had hired at 
Los Sauces, with his mule, to carry one of my 
packs, one of the mules being lame. He had 
agreed, for a certain sum, to travel with me two 
jornadas or days' journeys. In Mexican travel- 
ling there are two distinct jornadas - — one of 
at a jo, or the usual distance performed by ar- 
rieros; the other de cahallo, or journey performed 
on horseback, or with light packs. To prevent all 
misunderstanding, I had explicitly agreed with 
him for two of my own jornadas, or days' travel, 
of twelve leagues, or thirty-five miles, each day; 
but when he heard that the Indians were so near at 



THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 207 

hand, he wanted to give up his contract, and 
claimed the full pay of two jornadas for the dis- 
tance he had already come, which was thirty-six 
miles, affirming that it was two regular days' jour- 
neys of atajo. This I refused to pay him, offer- 
ing the half of the stipulated sum, as he had per- 
formed but one day's journey. Blustering and 
threatening, off he went to the alcalde, for in all 
ranchos the head man is chief magistrate, who 
sent me a peremptory order to pay the demand 
in full ; to which I sent back an answer more ener- 
getic than polite, together with the sum I had 
originally offered, saying at the same time that 
if it was not accepted I would not pay a farthing. 
Presently I saw the alcalde, attended by a posse, 
sally from the gate of the rancho and approach 
my camp, where I was very busily engaged in 
cleaning my arms. No sooner was the worthy 
near enough to observe my employment, than he 
wheeled off suddenly and returned to the rancho, 
and I saw no more of him or the arriero. 

The ranchos and haciendas in Durango and 
Chihuahua are all enclosed by a high wall, flanked 
at the corners by circular bastions loopholed for 
musketry. The entrance is by a large gate, which 
is closed at night ; and on the azotea, or flat roof 
of the building, a sentry is constantly posted day 
and night. Round the corral are the dwellings 



g08 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

of the peones; the casa grande, or proprietor's 
house, being generally at one end, and occupying 
one or more sides of the square. In this instance 
I was refused admittance into the enclosure — for 
what reason I do not know — and obliged to en- 
camp about two hundred yards from it, having to 
pay for two or three logs of wood, with which I 
made a fire. The rancheria, however, bears a very 
bad character, as I afterwards learned; and this 
night I had as much to dread from them and my 
rascally mozo as from the sudden attack of the 
Indians. My blanket was a little arsenal, as I 
had not only my own, but my servant's arms, to 
take care of. That worthy begged hard for a 
pistol or gun, saying that, if the Indians came, he 
would be killed like a dog. I told him to go into 
the rancho amongst his countrymen, which I be- 
lieve he did, for I saw or heard nothing more of 
him during the night. 

ISth. — To La Noria Perdizenia, forty miles ; 
the country getting more wild and desolate, and 
entirely destitute of water. Not a sign of habita- 
tion, or a human being on the road. We passed a 
gap between two sierras, called El Passage — the 
passage — which is wild and picturesque, the 
plains covered with mesquite, and a species of 
palm, called palma. We were approaching the 
village of La Perdizenia a little before sunset, 



THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 209 

through a broken country, with hills and bluffs 
rising on each side of the road, when suddenly, 
as I was riding in advance, I saw on one of these, 
which was some 500 or 600 yards from the road, 
a party of Indians, on horseback and on foot. I 
instantly stopped, and without saying a word, or 
pointing out the cause to the mozo, dismounted, 
and, catching the wildest mule, immediately tied 
her legs together with a riata, and covered the eyes 
of all with their tapojos or blinders. I then 
pointed with my finger to the hill, saying, " Mire, 
los Indios — [see, the Indians]." 

" Av^e Maria Purissima! estamos perdidos — 
we are lost ! " — exclaimed the Mexican, and made 
towards his horse, from which he had also dis- 
mounted ; but this I prevented, telling him that he 
had to fight, and not run. Half dead with fright, 
he threw himself on his knees, beseeching all the 
saints in the calendar to save him, and vowing 
offerings of all kinds if his life were spared. By 
this time the Indians, perceiving that there were 
but two of us, commenced descending the hill, leav- 
ing one or two of the party on the top as videttes. 
Seeing a fight seemed inevitable, I stuck my clean- 
ing-rod into the ground as a rest for my rifle; 
and, placing my carbine and pistols at my side, 
sat down to my work, intending to open upon 
them with my rifle as soon as they came within 



210 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

reach. However, this they did not seem inclined 
to do, but, striking their shields, and brandishing 
their bows, shouted to me to give up my animals 
and pass on. I kept my position for some time, 
but, finding they were not inclined to attack me, 
and not wishing to remain there when night was 
coming on, I unloosed the mules, and sent them 
forward with the mozo, remaining in rear myself 
to cover their retreat. Once in his saddle, invok- 
ing " todos los santosy" oif he galloped toward the 
village, driving the mules pell-mell before him ; nor 
did he stop until he was in the midst of the plaza, 
narrating to shrieking women, and all the popula- 
tion of the village, his miraculous escape. 

The reason of the Indians not charging upon us 
was that they saw a party of Mexicans on their 
way to the village, from a mine in the sierra, who 
were concealed from our view, and thought, no 
doubt, that we might be able to defend ourselves* 
until the noise of the firing would bring them to 
our assistance. 

When I arrived at La Noria I rode into the 
square, and found the inhabitants in the greatest 
alarm and dismay. They had been expecting the 
Indians for some days, as they had already com- 
mitted several atrocities in the neighboring 
ranchos. The women were weeping and flying 
about in every direction, hiding their children and 



THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 211 

valuables, barricading the houses, and putting 
what few arms they could collect in the hands of 
the reluctant men. As I rode through the village 
seeking a corral for my animals, a woman ran out 
of a house and begged me to enter, offering her 
stable, and corn, and straw for the beasts, and the 
best her house afforded for myself. I gladly ac- 
cepted her hospitality, and followed her into a neat 
clean little house, with a corral full of fig-trees 
and grape-vines, and a large yard with a pond of 
water in the centre, and a stack of hoja at one 
end, promising well for the comfort of the tired 
animals. 

" Ah ! " she exclaimed on my entering ; " gracios 
a Dios, I have some one to protect the lone widow 
and her fatherless children. If the savages come 
now, I don't care, since we have good arms in the 
house, and those qui sahen manejarlos — who 
know how to use them." 

After supper I visited the alcalde, and advised 
him to take some measures to oppose the Indians 
in case they attacked the place, as I had no doubt 
that the party which I had seen was but the ad- 
vanced guard of a large body. 

" Ah, caballero" he answered, " que podemos 
hacer? — what can we do.^^ We have no arms, 
and our people have no courage to use them if we 
had; but, thank God! the barbaros are ignorant 



gl2 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

of this, and will not attack the town; for how do 
they know but what we have escopetas in every 
window? These savages are very ignorant." 

The next morning I resumed my journey, much 
to the surprise of the people of La Noria, who 
looked upon us as lost; and, crossing the Nasas 
beyond the hacienda of El Cone jo (the rabbit), 
intended to go on some leagues farther, when I met 
some wagons belonging to a Frenchman of Chi- 
huahua, and, as he was brimful of novedades, I 
returned and camped with them near the hacienda, 
to hear the news. The Comanches, he said, were 
in great force beyond the village of El Gallo, and 
were killing and slaying in every direction. They 
had, a few days before, attacked a company of 
bullfighters under a Gachupin named Bernardo, 
on their way to the fair of El Valle de San Barto- 
lomo, killing seven of them and wounding all the 
others. They had also had a fight with the troops 
at the Bio Florido, killing seventeen and wounding 
many more. 

On the 16th I reached El Gallo (the cock), where 
the Indians three days before had killed two men 
belonging to Spiers' caravan, within a hundred 
yards of the village. The road from El Conejo 
for forty miles passes through a most dismal coun- 
try, and was crossed several times by the Indian 
trail. I had now to keep a sharp look-out, as 



THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 213 

there was no doubt that they were in the neigh- 
borhood, and presently I had ocular proof of their 
recent presence. We were passing through a 
chaparral of mesquite, where the road passes near 
a point of rocks, on which were seated hundreds 
of sopilotes. About a dozen of these birds flew 
up from the side of the road, and, turning my 
horse to the spot, I found they had been collected 
on the dead body of a Mexican, partly stripped, 
and the breast displaying several ghastly wounds. 
The head had been scalped, and a broken arrow 
still remained buried in the face, or rather what 
remained of it, for the eyes and part of the brain 
had been already picked out by the sopilotes, and 
a great part of the body devoured. Life did not 
appear to have been extinct many hours; prob- 
ably he had been killed the night before, as the 
birds had but that morning discovered the body. 
We had no means of digging a grave, and there- 
fore were obliged to leave it as we found it ; and as 
soon as I had left the spot the sopilotes recom- 
menced their revolting feast. 

I stayed at El Gallo in the house of a farmer 
who had lost three sons by the Indians within a 
few years. Two of their widows, young and hand- 
some, were in the house. He himself had been 
severely wounded by the Indians on several occa- 
sions. Their corn was now ready for cutting, 



214 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

but they were afraid to venture outside the village, 
and procured enough for their daily consumption 
by collecting together all the villagers and pro- 
ceeding to the fields in a body to bring in a supply. 
I remained here for two days, as one of my mules 
was seriously lame, during which time my chief 
occupation was sitting with the family, shelling 
corn, and platicando (chatting). In the evening 
a guitar was brought, and a fandango got up for 
my especial amusement. Some of the dances of 
the country people are not without grace, and with 
tolerable pantomimic action; but the greatest 
charms are the extempore songs which accompany 
the music, and, being chanted to a low broken 
measure, are at the same time novel and pleasing 
to the ear. 

In a rancho the time is occupied in the follow- 
ing way. At daybreak the females of the family 
rise and prepare the chocolate or atole, which is 
eaten the first thing in the morning. Breakfast is 
usually taken about nine o'clock, consisting of 
meat prepared with chile Colorado, frijoles, and 
tortillas: dinner and supper, at midday and sun- 
set, are likewise substantial meals. The gourd or 
pumpkin (calabaza) is much used in this part of 
Mexico, and is an excellent and wholesome vege- 
table. Between the meals the men employ them- 
selves in the milpas, or attending to the animals; 



THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 215 

the women busy themselves about the house, mak- 
ing clothes, &c. &c., as with us; but severe labor 
is unknown to either men or women. 

While here I assisted in the erection of two 
wooden crosses on the spot where Spiers' men were 
killed by the Comanches three days before. They 
had remained behind the caravan to bring some 
bread that was baking for the party, when just 
outside the town they were set upon by the In- 
dians and killed. 

In Durango and the neighboring state of Chi- 
huahua, the rancherias are supplied with such 
simple goods as they require by small traders, 
resident in the capitals of these states, who trade 
from one village to another with two or three 
wagons, which, when their goods are sold, they 
freight with supplies for the cities or the mines. 
These traders are all foreigners — French, Ger- 
mans, English, and Americans; and their adven- 
tures and hairbreadth escapes, while passing 
through the country overrun by Indians, are often 
most singular and exciting. Their arrivals in the 
villages are always welcome, as then the muchachas 
make their purchases of rebosos and gay enaguas, 
and the " majos " [boasters] their sarapes and 
sashes. 

The night before my departure from El GaUo, 
I was sitting in the corral platicando, while all the 



216 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

family were busy as usual corn-shelling, when a 
loud voice was heard, a cracking of whips, and 
cries of " wo-ha, wo-ha-a, wo-o-h-ha 1 " 

" Estrangeros! " exclaimed one of the girls. 

" Los Tejanos! " exclaimed another. 

"Los carros" (the wagons), said Don Jose, 
and I threw my sarape over my shoulder, and, 
proceeding to the open space in the centre of the 
village, dignified by the name of plaza, found four 
wagons just arrived, and the teamsters unhitching 
the mules. They proved to be the caravan of 
one Davy Workman, an Englishman by birth, but 
long resident in, and a citizen of, the United 
States ; a tall, hard-featured man, and most deter- 
mined in look, as he was known to be in character 
— un homhre miiy bien conocido, as my patron in- 
formed me. By this arrival more no'vedades were 
brought, and los Indios! los Indios! were on every- 
body's tongue. 

Senor Angel, my mozo, here openly rebelled, and 
refused to proceed farther ; but a promise of a few 
extra dollars at length induced him to agree to 
accompany me as far as Mapimi, sixty-five miles 
from El Gallo, and situated on what is called the 
frontier. 



CHAPTER XVI 

A THIRSTY LAND 

FROM El Gallo to Mapimi a mule-track 
leads the traveller through a most wild 
and broken country, perfectly deserted; 
rugged sierras rising from the mesquite-covered 
plains, which are sterile and entirely destitute of 
water. A little out of the direct route is the Ha- 
cienda de la Cadena, a solitary plantation stand- 
ing in a dismal plain, the scene of constantly re- 
curring Indian attacks; for an arroyo or water- 
course which runs through it, and in which that 
necessary element is found at intervals in deep 
holes, is resorted to by the Indians, when on their 
way to the haciendas of the interior. 

I had resolved to pass through this part of the 
country, although far out of the beaten track, in 
order to visit El Real de Mapimi, a little town, 
near a sierra which is said to be very rich in ore ; 
and also for the purpose of travelling through a 
tract of country laid waste by the Comanches, and 
but little known, and which is designated, par ex- 
cellencey *' los desiertos de la frontera — the deserts 

217 



£18 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

of the frontier ; " not so much from its sterility, 
as on account of its having been abandoned by its 
inhabitants, from the fear of the perpetual Indian 
attacks, as it lay in their direct route to the in- 
terior. 

As sixty-five miles was rather a long j oumey for 
one day, I resolved to start late, and proceed some 
twenty or thirty miles and then encamp, although 
it would be necessary to remain that night without 
water. Leaving El Gallo about midday, I stopped 
at some cattle-wells a short distance from the vil- 
lage to water the animals the last thing, and fill 
my own huages (a canteen made out of a gourd), 
The mules and horses, however, which unfortu- 
nately did not anticipate a scarcity at the end of 
their day's journey, refused to drink, and we con- 
tinued our journey under a hot and burning sun. 

The ranchero's family here took leave of me 
with tears, and prayers to all the saints for my 
safe journey. The old grandmother, after bless- 
ing me, told me that she had, by dint of I don't 
know how many Ave Marias, interested the patron 
saint of the family in my behalf, one San Ysidro 
of Guadalaxara, who, she was assured, would take 
me under his especial keeping. She likewise hung 
round my neck a copper coin with a miraculous 
hole in it, which would preserve me from the ar- 
rows of the Comanches, and the still more dan- 



A THIRSTY LAND 219 

gerous weapons of " el enimigo del mum,do [the 
enemy of the world]," who, she said, was ever 
" cazando " (hunting) after the souls of heretics. 

The plains were still covered with mesquite, and 
a species of palm which grows to the height of 
five or six feet, a bunch of long narrow leaves 
issuing from the top of the stem, which is fre- 
quently as thick as a man's body. From a dis- 
tance it is exactly like an Indian with a head-dress 
of feathers, and Angel was continually calling my 
attention to these vegetable savages. Between the 
plains an elevated ridge presents itself, generally 
a spur from the sierras which run parallel to them 
on the eastern and western flanks, and this forma- 
tion is everywhere the same. Where the ground 
is covered with mesquite-thickets or chaparrals, a 
high but coarse grass is found; but on the bluffs 
is an excellent species, known in Mexico as 
gramma, and on the prairies as a variety of the 
buffalo-grass, on which cattle and horses thrive 
and fatten equally as well as on grain. 

As I was riding close to a bunch of mesquite the 
whiz of a rattlesnake's tail caused my horse to 
spring on one side and tremble with affright. I 
dismounted, and, drawing the wiping-stick from 
my rifle, approached the reptile to kill it. The 
snake, as thick as my wrist, and about three feet 
long, was curled up, with its flat vicious-looking 



220 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

head and neck erected, and its tail rattling vio- 
lently. A blow on the head soon destroyed it, 
but, as I was remounting, my rifle slipped out of 
my hand, and crack went the stock. A thong of 
buckskin however soon made it as secure as ever. 

After travelling about twenty-five miles I 
selected a camping-ground, and, unloading the 
mules, made a kind of breastwork of the packs and 
saddles, behind which to retreat in case of an In- 
dian attack, which was more than probable, as we 
had discovered plenty of recent signs in the plains. 
It was about sunset when we had completed our 
little fort, and, spreading a petate, or mat, the 
animals were soon at their suppers of corn, which 
I had brought for the purpose. They had all 
their cabrestas or ropes round their necks, and 
trailing on the ground, in order that they might 
be easily caught and tied when they had finished 
their corn; and, giving the mozo strict orders to 
this effect, I rolled myself in my blanket and was 
soon asleep, as I intended to be on the watch my- 
self from midnight, to prevent surprise. 

In about two or three hours I awoke, and, jump- 
ing up, found Angel asleep, and that all the ani- 
mals had disappeared. It was pitchy dark, and 
not a trace of them could be distinguished. After 
an hour's ineffectual search I returned to camp, 
and waited until daybreak, when it would be light 



A THIRSTY LAND ^1 

enough to track the animals. This there was no 
difficulty in doing, and I at once found that, after 
hunting for some time for water, they had taken 
the track back to El Gallo, whither I had no doubt 
they had returned for water. It was certainly a 
great relief to me to find that they had not been 
taken by the Indians, which at first I thought 
was the case ; but their course was perfectly plain 
where they had trodden down the high grass, wet 
with dew, in their search for water. Not finding 
it, they had returned at once, and in a direct 
course, to our yesterday's trail, and made off to- 
wards El Gallo, without stopping to eat, or even 
pick the tempting gramma on their way. The 
only fear now was, that a wandering party of 
Indians should fall in with them on the road, when 
they would not only seize the animals, but dis- 
cover our present retreat by following their trail. 
When I returned to camp I immediately de- 
spatched Angel to El Gallo, ordering him to come 
back instantly, without delaying a moment, when 
he had found the beasts, remaining myself to take 
charge of the camp and baggage. On examining 
a pair of saddle-bags which my kind hostess at 
El Gallo had filled with tortillas, quesos, etc., I 
found that Mr. Angel had, either during the night, 
or when I was hunting for the missing animals, 
discussed all its contents, not leaving as much as 



no, ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

a crumb ; and as the fresh morning air had given 
me a sharp appetite, I took my rifle and skmg 
a double-barrel carbine on my back, placed a pair 
of pistols in my belt, and, thus armed, started off 
to the sierra to kill an antelope and broil a collop 
for breakfast. 

Whilst hunting I crossed the sierra, which was 
rocky and very precipitous, and from the top 
looked down into a neighboring plain, where I 
fancied I could discern an arroyo with running 
water. Half suffocated at the time with thirst, 
I immediately descended, although the place was 
six or seven miles out in the plain, and thought 
of nothing but assuaging my thirst. I had nearly 
completed the descent when a band of antelope 
passed me, and stopped to feed in a little plateau 
near which ran a canon or hollow, which would 
enable me to approach them within shot. Do\\ti 
the canon I accordingly crept, carefully concealing 
myself in the long grass and bushes, and occa- 
sionally raising my head to judge the distance. 
In this manner I had approached, as I thought, to 
within rifle-shot, and, creeping between two rocks 
at the edge of the hollow, I raised my head to 
reconnoitre, and met a sight which caused me to 
drop it again behind the cover, like a turtle draw- 
ing into its shell. 

About two hundred yards from the canon, and 



A THIRSTY LAND 



hardly twice that distance from the spot where I 
lay concealed, were riding quietly along, in In- 
dian file, eleven Comanches, painted and armed for 
war. Each had a lance and bow and arrows, and 
the chief, who was in advance, had a rifle, in a 
gaily ornamented case of buckskin, hanging at his 
side. They were naked to the waist, their buffalo 
robes being thrown off their shoulders and lying 
on their hips, and across the saddle, which was a 
mere pad of buffalo-skin. They were making to- 
wards the canon, which I imagined they would 
cross by a deer-path near where I stood. 

I certainly thought my time was come, but was 
undecided whether to fire upon them as soon as 
they were near enough, or trust to the chance of 
their passing me undiscovered. Although the 
odds were great, I certainly had the advantage, 
being in an excellent position, and having six shots 
in readiness, even if they charged, when they could 
only attack me one at a time. I took in at once 
the advantages of my position, and determined, if 
they showed an intention of crossing the canon by 
the deer-path, to attack them, but not otherwise. 

As they approached, laughing and talking, I 
raised my rifle, and, resting it in the fork of a 
bush which completely hid me, I covered the chief, 
his brawny breast actually shining (oily as it was) 
at the end of my sight. His life, and probably 



2^4 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

mine, hung on a thread. Once he turned his horse, 
when he arrived at the deer-track which crossed 
the canon, and, thinking that they were about to 
approach by that path, my finger even pressed the 
trigger; but an Indian behind him said a few 
words, and pointed along the plain, when he re- 
sumed his former course and passed on. I cer- 
tainly breathed more freely, although (such is hu- 
man nature) no sooner had they turned off than 
I regretted not having fired. If not unnecessary, 
it would not have been a rash act, for in my posi- 
tion, and armed as I was, I was more than a match 
for the whole party. 

However, antelope and water went unscathed, 
and as soon as the Indians were out of sight I 
again crossed the sierra, and reached the camp 
about two hours before sunset, where, to my dis- 
appointment, the animals had not yet arrived, and 
no signs of their approach were visible on the 
plain. I determined, if they did not make their 
appearance by sundown, to return at once to El 
Gallo, as I suspected my mozo might commit some 
foul play, and perhaps abscond with the horses 
and mules. 

Sun went down, but no Angel ; and darkness set 
in and found me, almost dead with thirst, on my 
way to El Gallo. It was with no little difficulty 
I could make my way, now stumbling over rocks, 



A THIRSTY LAND 

and now impaling myself on the sharp prickles of 
the palma or nopalo. Several times I was in the 
act of attacking one of the former, so ridiculously 
like feathered Indians did they appear in the dim 
starlight. However, all was hushed and dark — 
not even a skulking Comanche would risk his neck 
on such a night : now and then an owl would hoot 
overhead, and the mournful and long-continued 
howl of the coyote swept across the plain, or a 
snake rattled as it heard my approaching foot- 
step. When the clouds swept away, and allowed 
the stars to emit their feeble light, the palms 
waved in the night air, and raised their nodding 
heads against the sky, the cry of the coyote be- 
came louder, as it was now enabled to pursue its 
prey, cocuyas flitted amongst the grass like winged 
sparks of fire, and deer or antelope bounded across 
my path. 

The trail indeed was in many parts invisible, 
and I had to trust to points of rocks and ridges, 
and trees which I remembered to have passed the 
day before, to point out my course. Once, choked 
with thirst, and utterly exhausted — for I had 
been travelling since sunrise without food or 
water — I sank down on the damp ground and 
slept for a couple of hours, and when I awoke the 
stars were obscured by heavy clouds, and the dark- 
ness prevented me distinguishing an object even a 



226 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

few feet distant. I had lost my bearings, and was 
completely confused, not knowing which course to 
follow. Trusting to instinct, I took what I con- 
sidered the proper direction, and shortly after, 
when it again became light enough to see, I re- 
gained the path and pushed rapidly on. At 
length the welcome lowing of cattle satisfied me 
that I was near the wells where I had stopped the 
previous day. I soon arrived at the spot, and, 
lowering the goatskin bucket, buried my head in 
the cold water, and drank a delicious draught. 

At about three in the morning, just as the first 
dawn was appearing, I knocked at the door of the 
rancho, and the first voice I heard was that of 
my mozo, asking; lazily, " Quien llama? — who 
calls?" 

Every one was soon up, and congratulating me 
upon being still alive; for when Angel had told 
them of the loss of the animals, and that I was 
remaining alone, they gave me up for lost, as the 
spot where we had encamped was a notorious stop- 
ping-place of the Indians when en route for the 
haciendas. I was so fortunate as to find all the 
animals safe; they were quietly feeding near the 
cattle-wells when the mozo arrived there. He 
made some lame excuse for not returning, but I 
have no doubt his intention had been to make off 
with them, which, if I had not suspected something 



A THIRSTY LAND 22T 

of the sort, and followed him, he would probably 
have effected. 

At daylight I mounted a mule bare-backed, and 
Angel another; and, leading the remainder, we 
rode back to the camp, whence we immediately 
started for Mapimi. 

As a punishment for his carelessness and medi- 
tated treachery, I obliged the mozo to ride bare- 
backed the whole distance of nearly sixty miles, 
and at a round trot. This feat of equitation, 
which on the straight and razor-like back of an ill- 
conditioned mule is anything but an easy or com- 
fortable process, elicited from Angel, during his 
ride, a series of the most pathetic laments on his 
miserable fate in serving so merciless a master, ac- 
companied by supplications to be allowed to 
mount the horse which carried his saddle and ran 
loose. But I was obdurate. He was the un- 
doubted cause, by not having watched the animals, 
as was his duty, of the delay and loss of time I 
had suffered, and therefore, as a warning, and as 
a matter of justice, I administered this salutary 
dose of " Lynch law," which I have no doubt he 
remembers to the present moment. 

About midday we reached the Hacienda de la 
Cadena, first passing a vidette stationed on a 
neighboring hill, on the lookout for the Indians. 
The hacienda itself was closed, and men were 



228 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

ready on the azoteas [flat roofs] with guns and 
bows and arrows, when the approach of strangers 
was announced by signal from the rancher o on the 
hill. Just outside the gates were erected several 
crosses, with their little piles of stones, on which 
were roughly-cut inscriptions ; they were all to 
the memory of those who had been killed on the 
spot by Indians. 

We stayed at La Cadena merely to water our 
beasts, the people shouting from the housetop, 
and asking if we were mad, to travel alone. 
Angel, to whom I had again intrusted a carbine, 
answered by striking his hand on the butt of his 
piece, and vociferating, " Mir en ustedes: somos 
'valientes, que import an los carajos Comanches. 
Que vengan, y yo los matare. — Look here : we are 
brave men, and don't care a straw for the rascally 
Comanches. Only let them come, and I will kill 
them myself." And the muchachas waved their 
rebosos, and saluted the valiente, shouting, 
^' Adios, huen mozo! mate a los harharos! — God 
keep you, brave lad ! kill the savages." At w^hich 
Angel waved his gun, in a state of great excite- 
ment and present valor, which cooled amazingly 
when we were out of sight of the hacienda and 
amongst the dreary chaparrals. 

It was ten at night when we reached Mapimi ; 
and, losing the track, we got bewildered in the 



A THIRSTY LAND ^29 

darkness, and wandered into a marsh outside the 
town, the lights of which were apparently quite 
close at hand: but all our shouting and cries for 
assistance and a guide were in vain, and caused 
the inhabitants to barricade their doors, as they 
thought the Indians were upon them; which panic 
was probably increased, when at last, guessing at 
the cause, and almost losing my temper, I gave a 
succession of most correct war-whoops as I floun- 
dered through the mud, and fired a volley at the 
same moment. When, therefore, I at length ex- 
tricated myself and entered the town, not a living 
soul was visible, and the lights all extinguished; 
so, groping my way to the plaza, at one side of 
which trickled a little stream, I unpacked my mules 
and encamped, sending the mozo with a costal 
[sack] for a supply of corn for the animals, with 
which he presently returned, reporting at the same 
time that the people were half dead with terror. 
The mules and horses properly cared for, I rolled 
myself in my blanket in the middle of the street, 
and went supperless to sleep, after a ride of sixty- 
five miles. 

El Ileal de Mapimi is situated on a plain at the 
foot of a mountain called, from its supposed re- 
semblance to a purse, the Bolson de Mapimi. The 
sierras, which surround the plain, teem with the 
precious metals; but for some reason, probably 



230 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

from its situation near the frontier, and its ex- 
posure to Indian attacks, they have never been 
properly worked. The mine near the town, and 
the hacienda de beneficios, belong to an inhabitant 
of Mapimi, who, without capital or machinery, 
derives a considerable income even from the primi- 
tive method employed in working the mine, which 
produces gold, silver, lead, and sulphur from the 
same sierra. My impression is, that the mines of 
Mapimi, if properly worked, would be the most 
productive in the country ; and the transportation 
of machinery, by way of the Rio Grande and Mon- 
clova, would be practicable, and attended with 
comparatively little expense. 

The town itself is merely a collection of adobe 
houses, and, with the exception of a cotton-fac- 
tory,* the superintendent of which is an English- 
man, possesses no trade of any description. The 
population, of between two and three thousand, 
live in constant dread of the Indians, who lately 
entered the town and carried off the mulada be- 
longing to the hacienda de heneficios out of the 
very corrals. The surrounding country is sterile 
and uninhabited; the villages and ranchos have 

* In the gardens of the factory at Mapimi I noticed sev- 
eral tea-plants, which thrive in this climate and soil, and 
the leaves of which, I was informed, are of very tolerable 
flavor. 



A THIRSTY LAND 231 

been deserted, and the fields laid waste by the sav- 
ages. Between Mapimi and Chihuahua is a large 
unpeopled tract of country called the travesia: 
it once possessed several thriving villages and 
ranchos, now deserted and in ruins, where the 
Indians resort during their incursions, and leave 
their tired animals to be recruited in the pastures 
which have sprung up on the once cultivated fields, 
removing them on their return. A road from 
Mapimi, now disused for years and overgrown 
with grass, leads to Chihuahua through these de- 
serted villages, and I determined to follow it, in 
spite of the bad character assigned to it by the 
Mexicans on account of its being so much fre- 
quented by the Comanches. 

Here I gave my mozo. Angel, his conge, and 
picked up, much to my astonishment, a little Irish- 
man, who had been eighteen years in Mexico, dur- 
ing which time he had passed over nearly the whole 
republic, excepting New Mexico. He had lost 
all traces of his Milesian descent, being in char- 
acter, manners, and appearance a perfect Mexican, 
and had almost forgotten his own language. In- 
dians moreover had no terrors for him, and he at 
once agreed to accompany me to Chihuahua, even 
by way of the travesia, " for," said he, " the In- 
dian isn't born who will take my scalp." 

During my stay in Mapimi I encamped in the 



232 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

middle of the plaza, much to the gratification of 
the pelados * of the town, who constantly sur- 
rounded me, pilfering everything which lay ex- 
posed. My reason for preferring the open air, 
even of a street, was the absence of vermin, which 
in the houses actually devour the full-blooded 
Europeo. The evening before our departure a 
deputation waited upon me to dissuade me from 
attempting to cross to Chihuahua. The alcalde 
even went as far as to say that my new mozo, who 
was a Mexican citizen, should not be allowed to 
leave the town ; but this I at once overcame by ex- 
hibiting my formidable-looking passports and car- 
tas de securidad, or letters of security. They 
asked how I could expect to escape the Indians.'' 
I pointed to my rifle. " Valgame en Dios! " was 
the rejoinder; " que loco es este Yngles! — What 
a madman this Englishman is ! " 

One event occurred in Mapimi which annoyed 
me excessively. The night of my arrival, my ani- 
mals, I fear, were rather scantily supplied with 
corn; and, to revenge the slight, the mules ate 
the tail of my beautiful Panchito to the very dock 
— a tail which I had tied, and combed, and tended 
with the greatest care and affection. In the 

* Pelade, literally skinless, meaning, in Mexico, the 
ragged, coatless vagabonds who loaf about the towns and 
villages. 



A THIRSTY LAND ^33 

morning I hardly recognised the animal; his once 
ornamental appendage looked as if it had been 
gnawed by rats, and his whole appearance was dis- 
figured. I got a pair of shears, and clipped and 
cut, but only made matters worse, and was fain 
to desist after an hour's attempt. The tails of 
the mules were at the end of my journey picked 
like a bone, for, whenever their supper was poor, 
they immediately fell to work on each other's tails. 

A perfect levee was held round my camp, which, 
being in the open square, of course was exposed 
enough. In this obtrusion, and the pertinacity 
with which they maintain it, the Mexicans are in- 
finitely more annoying than the Indians them- 
selves. Wrapped in their sarapes, they used to 
surround my fire, even when I was eating my 
meals, staring at my every action, and without 
saying a word. A pelado would remain thus mo- 
tionless for two or three hours, when he would 
retire for the purpose of eating his dinner, re- 
turning after it, and taking up the same position. 
No hints were strong enough, and no rebuffs had 
any effect in abating the nuisance : but, frequently 
losing all temper and patience, I rattled out at 
them in pretty hearty abuse. Then they would 
move off, muttering, " Que sin verguenza! — What 
a shameless, unmannered fellow is this ! " 

When eating, I found that the most efficacious 



234 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

way of getting rid of them was by making use of 
the " invitation " which Spaniards invariably prof- 
fer to strangers of any class before commencing 
a meal: " Ustedes gustan? " [have you eaten?] I 
would ask; and, strangely enough, nothing seemed 
to insult them more than this. Without the usual 
answer of " Mil gracias; huen provecho tenga 
usted — a thousand thanks ; may your worship 
have a good appetite," they invariably slunk 
away. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE LOST AMERICANS 

ON the 23rd I left Mapimi, the whole popu- 
lation, I do believe, turning out to see 
me put my head in the lion's mouth. 
For thirty-six miles we travelled through an arid 
chaparral; when, towards sunset, we entered into 
a more open plain, where we saw the ruined houses 
of Jarral Grande. The houses had been built 
round a large open space covered with grass, each 
one standing in a garden. At the entrance of the 
village, and scattered along the road, was a perfect 
forest of crosses, many of them thrown down or 
mutilated by the Indians. The houses were most 
of them tumbling to pieces, but some were still 
entire. The gardens, overrun with a wilderness 
of weeds, still contained flowers, and melon-vines 
crept from the enclosures out into the green. In 
one house that I entered a hare was sitting on the 
threshold, and some leverets were inside; and on 
the flat azotea of another sat a large cat. The 
walls, too, of the ruined houses were covered with 
creepers, which hung from the broken roofs and 

about the floors. 

235 



236 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

I entered another house, which, from its size 
and appearance, had evidently been the abode of 
the priest or chief personage of the village. The 
remains of a recent fire were scattered about the 
floor, on which were strewed several Indian xuages 
or drinking-gourds, an arrow, and a human scalp. 
The Indians had very lately visited the village, 
and some of them had doubtless taken up their 
abode in this house, and perhaps, departing before 
daylight, had left these articles behind them. 

There were several cats about the ruins ; and, 
as I entered, four or five enormous ones jumped 
oif a wall where they lay basking in the sun, and 
concealed themselves in the tangled weeds. 

The sun set beauteously on this lonely scene. 
In the distance, the ragged outline of the sierra 
was golden with its declining rays, which shed a 
soft light on the ruins of the village; and every- 
thing looked so calm and beautiful, that it was 
difficult to call to mind that this was once the scene 
of horrid barbarities. 

We took the animals down to the arroyo near 
the village, and, rifle in hand, watched them as 
they drank. In the sand at the edge of the stream 
were numerous marks of horses' feet and mocca- 
sin tracks fresh and recent. The Indians had 
been there that morning, and might very probably 
return, so it behooved us to be on the watch. We 



THE LOST AMERICANS 237 

therefore picketed the mules and horses in the 
open space in the middle of the village, while we 
ourselves retreated to the shelter and shadow of a 
house within pistol-shot, whence we could com- 
mand all the approaches to the green without be- 
ing ourselves seen; one standing sentry while the 
other slept. In the night a number of perfectly 
wild cattle entered the village, and nearly caused 
our animals to stampede. One fat young heifer 
approached to within a few feet of where I was 
lying watching under a wall, and very nearly 
tempted me to a shot. Little rest we had that 
night; and long before daylight, that being the 
hour when Indians make their attacks, we were up 
and on the alert. 

We were in our saddles before sunrise, and with 
great difficulty made our way in the dark through 
the thick chaparral. On approaching a stream 
called Arroyo de los Indios, or Indian River, I had 
been warned to be on the look-out as that stream 
was a favorite stopping-place of the Indians. We 
crossed near where a broad and freshly-used In- 
dian trail entered it, and halted some distance up 
the stream from the ford. There were deep holes 
of the clearest and coldest water in the arroyo, 
and I enjoyed a most delicious bath. My animals 
were picketed, and fared badly, the grass being 
coarse and sparsely scattered amongst the bushes. 



SS8 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

We had another night of watchfulness, or rather 
half a night, for shortly after midnight we again 
packed the mules and started. This I did on 
account of the greater security of travelling at 
night, and in order to reach Jarral Chiquito, if 
possible, before sunrise, when, if Indians had been 
encamped there, as was more than probable, we 
might escape before we were observed. The dis- 
tance from Jarral Grande to Arroyo de los Indios 
was forty miles, and from that river to Jarral 
Chiquito, or Little Jarral, the same. The latter 
place was also a noted stopping-place of the In- 
dians, and my servant had made up his mind that 
there we should have some work. To do him jus- 
tice, however, he was nothing loth, and behaved re- 
markably well all through this dangerous journey. 
The sun rose magnificently behind us just before 
we reached Jarral; and, turning in my saddle, I 
saw Harry looking hard at it with shaded eyes. 

" What's the matter? " I sang out. 

" Look, sir — look at the sun rise," he an- 
swered : " perhaps we may never have another 
chance, Don Jorge. I never saw it look so beau- 
tiful before." 

The plains here abounded in deer, and a bird 
of the pheasant species called " faisan," and cor- 
rupted into " paisano " by the lower classes. 

We reached Jarral Chiquito shortly after sun- 



THE LOST AMERICANS S39 

rise, and I rode on to reconnoitre. No Indians 
were there, but plenty of " sign." The village 
was situated on a hill, near a small spring of sali- 
tose water, round which grows a clump of cotton- 
wood, a species of poplar (alamo). The village 
had been entirely burned by the Indians, with the 
exception of one house which was still standing, 
the roof of which they had torn off, and from the 
upper walls had shot down with arrows all the in- 
mates. Inside were the skeleton of a dog and sev- 
eral human bones. A dreary stillness reigned over 
the whole place, unbroken by any sound, save the 
croaking of a bullfrog in the spring, round which 
we encamped for a few hours. At noon we again 
started, and travelled on till nearly dark, when we 
encamped in the middle of a bare plain, without 
water for the animals, or wood with which to make 
a fire. The grass, also, was thin, and the poor 
beasts fared badly, after a journey of more than 
sixty miles within twenty-four hours. In the 
night I saw a fire some distance from us, but ap- 
parently on the same plain. It was doubtless an 
encampment of a large party of Indians who 
passed Guajoquilla the very day of my arrival 
there. 

On the 26th at daybreak we were packed and 
off, and, after a journey of forty miles, to our 
great satisfaction we struck the settlements of 



240 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

Guajoquilla. Before entering the town we crossed 
a large milpa, where the people were busy cutting 
and carrying the maize. My sudden appearance 
put them to flight, and men, women, and children 
rushed like rabbits to the cover of the maize-canes. 
They mistook me for an Indian, as I was dressed 
in a hunting-shirt and fringed leggings ; and as the 
Comanches had passed that very morning, killing 
some of the laborers in the field, they were justified 
in their alarm. 

Guajoquilla * is a pretty, quaint little town, 
with its white-washed adobe houses, and looking 
clean and neat. The arrival of strangers, and in 
such an extraordinary garb, and moreover evi- 
dently from the travesia and Mapimi, created no 
little sensation. The people flocked round me, in- 
quiring the novedades, and how I had escaped the 
Indians. Hundreds of houses were placed at my 
disposal, but, as few of them contained stables 
or corrals, I rode into a street near the plaza, and, 
seeing a respectable old dame sitting at a large 
gate which led to a corral, I invited myself to take 
up my abode with her, which, with a thousand pro- 
testations, she instantly agreed to. 

I had hardly dismounted when a tall gaunt fig- 
ure elbowed its way through the admiring crowd, 

* Cotton is cultivated here, and tlirives exceedingly well, 
as also in the valley of the Nazas. 



THE LOST AMERICANS ^41 

and, seizing my hand, exclaimed, " Thank God, 
here's a countryman at last ! " and burst into 
tears. Regarding him with astonishment, I per- 
ceived at once that he was an American, and, by 
his dress of well-worn homespun, evidently a Mis- 
sourian, and one of the teamsters who accompany 
the Santa Fe caravans from the United States. 
He quickly told me his story. He was one of the 
twenty-one Americans who, as I have before men- 
tioned, left Mr. Spiers' caravan some thirty or 
forty days before, intending to proceed across the 
country to the United States, by way of Texas. 
They had purchased horses and mules at the 
hacienda of La Sarca; and, without a guide, and 
knowing nothing of the nature of the country they 
had to traverse, had entered a tract between the 
Bolson of Mapimi and the sierras of El Diablo, 
which is entirely destitute of game and water. 
Here their animals had nearly all died ; and them- 
selves, separating in small parties, had vainly 
searched for water, remaining for eight days with 
no other sustenance than the blood of mules, and 
reduced to the most revolting extremities to as- 
suage their burning thirst. The man before me and 
another had found their way to a hole of water af- 
ter several days' travel, near which some pastores 
(shepherds) were tending a large flock of sheep, 
and these men had brought them into Guaj oquilla. 



24^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

According to his account, the others must long ere 
this have perished, for when he left them they were 
prostrate on the ground, unable to rise, and pray- 
ing for death. In the hope of recovering some of 
their effects, his companion, after recruiting his 
strength, had started back to the spot with some 
Mexicans, but, meeting a party of Comanches, 
they had returned without reaching the place. 

The next day, however, some vaqueros entered 
the town bearing six or seven Americans behind 
their saddles, and towards the evening two more 
were brought in, making eleven in all v/ho had ar- 
rived. Such miserable, emaciated creatures it has 
never been my lot to see. With long hair and 
beards, and thin cadaverous faces, with the cheek- 
bones projecting almost through the skin, and 
their mouths cracked with the drought, they dis- 
mounted before my door, weak and scarcely able 
to stand; most of them had entirely lost their 
voices, and some were giddy and light-headed with 
the sufferings they had endured. From their ac- 
count I had no doubt that ten of their party were 
perishing in the sierra, or most probably had 
already expired; for they were entirely exhausted 
when the last of those who had arrived left the 
spot where they had been lying. 

After ordering my servant to make a large 
quantity of strong soup for the poor* fellows, and 



THE LOST AMERICANS MS 

providing for their immediate wants, I proceeded 
to the alcalde of the place, and told him the story. 
He at once agreed with me that some steps must 
be taken to rescue the sufferers if still alive, but he 
doubted if the people in the town would undertake 
the expedition, as it was known that the Indians 
were in the sierras, and in fact in every part, 
and it was a perfect miracle how the men had 
reached the town in safety. He also promised me 
that the men should not be confined, but allowed 
to go at large on parole, until he had communi- 
cated with the governor of Chihuahua, and that a 
large room should be provided for them, where 
they would be at perfect liberty. 

One of these men, a lean and lank Kentuckian, 
who, rawboned at any time, was now a perfect 
skeleton, came up to me, and in a whisper, for his 
voice was lost for a time, requested to consult me 
on an important matter. The appearance of the 
poor fellow was comical in the extreme. His long 
black hair was combed over his face and forehead, 
and hung down his back and over his shoulders; 
and his features, with cheek-bones almost protrud- 
ing from the skin, wore an indescribably serio- 
comic expression. He was, in fact, what his ap- 
pearance indicated, a " Puritan," and his words 
drawled out of his throat like fathoms of cable, 
or the sermon of a Methodist preacher. 



244^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

" Stranger," he said to me, " you have been 
about the world, I guess, and are likely to know. 
What," he asked, putting his face close to mine, 
" might be the worth in your country of a camlet 
cloak? I never see sech a cloak as that ar one 
in no parts," he continued, looking up into the 
sky as if the spectre of the camlet cloak was there. 
" I've worn that ar cloak more nor ten 3^ear, lined 
right away through with the best kind of bleachin'. 
Stranger," he continued, " it's a bad fix them poor 
boys is in, away out thar in them darned dried-up 
hills, and it jest doubles me up to think on it. 
Now, I want to know what's the worth of such a 
fixin' as that ar camlet cloak? " I answered that 
I could not possibly tell, knowing nothing about 
such matters. " Well, stranger, all I are got to 
say is this, — thar ain't sech another cloak as that 
between this and Louisville, anyhow you can fix it, 
and I want to know if the gov'ner here will send 
out to them hills to bring in that ar camlet cloak. 
It lays jest whar we left them poor boys," I told 
him that, although I did not think the " gov- 
ernor " would exactly send out a detachment in 
search of his cloak, yet I had no doubt but that 
some steps would be taken to rescue the unfor- 
tunate men who were left in the sierras, and that if 
I went myself I would endeavor to recover it for 
him. This calmed him considerably, and, taking 



THE LOST AMERICANS ^45 

me by the arm, he said solemnly, " Stranger, I'll 
thank you for that ; " and, turning away, I heard 
him soliloquizing — " Sech a cloak as that ar ain't 
nowhere between this and Louisville." 

The owner of the lost garment volunteered to 
accompany me in search of the missing men, for 
whose recovery he said he would give all he had, 
even the " camlet cloak ; " and I found him the 
best man of the party. During the journey he 
rode by my side, the whole subject of his discourse 
being the merits of the wonderful garment. As 
we drew near the spot where he had left it, his ex- 
citement became intense. He speculated as to how 
it was lying — was it folded up ? — had the rain 
injured it? &c. ; and at last (he had been riding 
for some time with his head bent forward, and his 
eyes almost starting from his head), he darted sud- 
denly on, jumped from his horse, and seized upon 
something lying on the ground. Holding up to 
my view an old tattered benjamin, with a catskin 
collar, and its original blue stained to a hundred 
different hues, he exultingly exclaimed, — " Stran- 
ger, h'yar's the darned old cloak: hurraw for my 
old camlet cloak ! — but darn it, whar's them poor 
boys?" 

Determined to go myself in search of the Ameri- 
cans, I beat up for volunteers, and soon got four 
or five rancheros, who were mounted and armed by 



246 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

the prefect, to agree to accompany me. Eight of 
the Americans were also sufficiently recovered the 
next day to be of the party; and about noon we 
started, sixteen in number, well armed and 
mounted. The alcalde, before we left, informed 
the Americans that, although prisoners, he did 
not hesitate to allow them to proceed under my 
command, as I had made myself answerable for 
their return. 

Taking an easterly course, we crossed a sierra, 
and entered upon a broken country dotted with 
groves of mesquite and palms, and intersected by 
numerous ravines and canons. About ten at 
night we halted for an hour to allow our horses 
to feed on the damp grass, as there was no water, 
and afterwards continued our journey at as rapid 
a rate as the nature of the country would admit. 
All night we passed through a wild and perfectly 
desert tract, crossing rough sierras and deep ra- 
vines. A large and recent Indian trail crossed 
the country from north to south, which my Mexi- 
can guide said was the main road of the Comanches 
into the interior. At sunrise we reached a little 
hole of water, and a few feet beyond it lay the 
body of a mule which two of the Americans had 
killed for its blood, not knowing that water was 
within a few feet of them. No sooner had they 
gorged themselves with the hot blood than they 



THE LOST AMERICANS 247 

discovered the pool, but were ^ sickened with their 
previous draught as to be unable to drink. Here 
we allowed our animals to fill themselves, and im- 
mediately rode on without resting. The country 
became still more broken, and deer were very plen- 
tiful. I tumbled over one splendid buck, as he 
jumped out of a canon through which we were 
passing, but we were in too great a hurry to stop 
to take any of the meat. 

Towards evening, after travelling rapidly all 
the day, we approached the spot where the Ameri- 
cans had left their companions, and I caused the 
party to separate and spread out, to look for 
tracks of men or horses. Shortly after one of 
them stopped and called me to his side. He had 
discovered the body of a horse which they had left 
alive when they had last seen their companions. 
Its swollen tongue and body showed that the poor 
animal had died from excessive thirst, and was a 
bad omen of our finding the men alive. A few 
yards farther on lay another, which had died from 
the same cause. Presently we reached the spot, 
and found guns, and blankets, and ammunition, 
but no signs of the lost men. The ground, hard 
and rocky, afforded no clue to the course they had 
followed, but it was evident that they must have 
taken an opposite course to that from which we 
had just come, or we must have seen their tracks 



248 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

in the plains. The horses had been dead at least 
three days, and had evidently been turned loose 
to shift for themselves, as they were without ropes. 
No doubt remained in my mind as to the men's fate. 
The sierra, with the exception of the hole where 
we watered our animals, was destitute of water, 
and in the direction we imagined them to have 
taken, the country was still more arid, where, if 
they escaped a miserable death from starvation, 
they would in all probability encounter an equally 
certain one at the hands of the Indians. 

I learned afterwards, from a Mexican woman 
who had been carried a prisoner through this very 
sierra by the Comanches, and afterwards pur- 
chased from them by an Indian trader, that, in 
passing through this desert tract, the Indians are 
four days and nights without water for their ani- 
mals, hundreds of which perish on the road. 

After an ineffectual search we were obliged to 
turn back, as our animals had been nearly thirty 
hours without eating, and were almost exhausted; 
and here there was no grass or herbage of any 
description. Our guide now recommended that 
we should strike a new course, and, instead of re- 
turning by the way we came, should cross the 
sierra by a gap known as the Puerta del Jabali — - 
the gate of the wild boar; and by this route we 
might that night reach an old deserted rancho, 



THE LOST AMERICANS 2i9 

where was good grass, and water for the tired 
animals. Striking off to the gap, we passed a 
wide canon, full of high grass, and literally swarm- 
ing with deer. As all our provisions were ex- 
hausted, I rode ahead and killed a fine doe, which 
one of the Mexicans threw over his saddle. It was 
not till late in the night that we reached the old 
rancho ; and at the spring we found several In- 
dian horses, with their backs still wet from the 
saddle, drinking, while others were feeding around. 
From the sign I knew that the Indians had been 
about since sundown, that they had probably left 
their tired animals here, and would return in the 
morning, or perhaps during the night. It was 
necessary therefore to be watchful. 

The alamos round the spring of water were 
black with ravens and crows which were roosting 
in the branches, and one of the Americans thought- 
lessly discharged his rifle at them, which set all 
the Indian horses scampering off, and greatly an- 
noyed me, as I had intended to have secured them. 
It might also have had the effect of bringing the 
Indians upon us, if they were in the neighbor- 
hood, as probably they were. I remained alerto 
aU night, having two Mexicans on sentry at the 
same time. The Americans lay snoring round a 
huge fire, and, as they were very tired, I did not 
require them to stand guard. As I was going my 



250 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

rounds I saw a figure crawling on the ground be- 
tween me and the ruined walls of a house some two 
hundred yards distant. Assured that it could be 
no other than an Indian, I threw myself on the 
ground, and " approached " it, as the hunters say, 
cautiously and without noise. The figure was also 
" approaching " me, and we gradually drew near 
each other ; and I then perceived what I imagined to 
be an Indian in the very act of drawing his bow 
upon me. My rifle was instantly at my shoulder, 
and in another moment would have discharged its 
contents, when the figure rose on its legs and cried 
out, *' No tire, no tire, por dios; soy amigo — 
don't fire ; I'm a friend ; " — and I saw, sure 
enough, that it was one of the Mexicans, but, 
dressed in a brown sarape, and with his long black 
hair and dark face, and armed with bow and arrow, 
he might easily be mistaken for an Indian. 

About four in the afternoon next day we rode 
into Guajoquilla, and, before I had dismounted, 
Don Augustin Garcia, the prefect, followed by a 
crowd, accosted me : — 

" Que novedadesf " he asked. " Nothing," I 
answered. 

" Fues aqui tiene us ted mucJias — well, here we 
have plenty of bad news for you. The robbers 
have broken into your room, and stolen all your 
baggage." 



THE LOST AMERICANS £51 

" Pues," I answered, " si no hay remedio — if 
it can't be helped, it can't." 

Mj servant now made his appearance, with a 
face as white as a sheet; I had given him strict 
orders, when I started, on no account to leave the 
house until my return. The night before, how- 
ever, he had been induced by the robbers to go to 
a fandango, where they locked him in a room for 
several hours with a party of men and women 
drinking and dancing. When he returned to the 
house he found the door of my room, which was 
entered from the street, open, and, thinking that I 
had returned, he went into the house, and, awaken- 
ing the women, asked them when I had come back. 
They told him that I was not yet returned, and 
he replied, " He must be, for his door was wide 
open." 

At this out jumped the patrona from her bed: 
" Ladronas! ladronas! " she cried out, instantly 
guessing what had happened. Striking a light, 
the whole household entered my room, and found 
it stripped of everything. The robbers had actu- 
ally carried off the matting of my packsaddles ; 
trunks and saddles, guns, pistols, sword, and all 
were gone ; and in one of the packs were some three 
thousand dollars, so they had made a good night's 
work of it. My servant was in despair; his first 
idea was to run, for I would kill him, he said, as 



25^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

soon as I arrived. The old patrona did not lose 
her presence of mind; she rushed to her sala, and 
snatched from the wall a little image of El Nino de 
Atocha, a juvenile saint of extraordinary virtue. 
Seizing my distracted mozo by the shoulders? she 
forced him on his knees, and, surrounded by all the 
women of the family, vowed to the uplifted saint 
three masses, the cook on her part a penance, and 
my servant a mass likewise, if the stolen goods 
were recovered, besides scores of Pater Nosters, 
dozens of Ave Marias, &c., 8zc, Having done this, 
as she told me when giving a history of the affair, 
her heart became calm ; the blessed child of Atocha 
had never deserted her, a lone widow, with only a 
huellada of two hundred cattle to depend upon, 
and her husband killed by the harharos; and she 
felt assured that by the saint's means the things 
would be recovered. " The scandal, she said, 
" the * infamia ' of the robbery taking place in her 
house ! " and a stranger too to be plundered, " lejos 
de su patria y sus amigos; ay que lastima, que in- 
famia! — far from his country and his friends ; 
what an atrocity ! " 

The prefect, Don Augustin, was soon on the 
scent; one man was already suspected, who had 
been seen in front of the house late on the night of 
the robbery, and, passing by frequently, had at- 
tracted the attention of my patrona. My mozo, 



THE LOST AMERICANS 253 

pistol in hand, went to the house of this man and 
collared him, and when I arrived had already 
lodged him in the calahoza. Two others were 
shortly after taken on suspicion of being accom- 
plices. 

" No hay cuidado — there is no fear," said Don 
Augustin ; " we'll get everything back ; I have put 
them to the torture, and they have already con- 
fessed to the robbery." 

My servant, who witnessed the operation, said 
it was beautiful to see the prefect screwing a con- 
fession out of them. Their necks and feet were 
placed in two different holes, which by means of a 
screw, were brought together until every muscle 
of the body and limbs was in a frightful state of 
tension, and the bones almost dislocated. At 
length they divulged where one trunk was con- 
cealed, and then another, and after two or three 
faintings, one article after another was brought 
to light. In the intervals the prefect rushed to 
me, wiping the perspiration from his forehead. 

" No hay cuidado, no hay cuidado; we'll have 
everything out of them. They have just now 
fainted off, but when they recover they shall be 
popped in again." 

At last everything was recovered but a small 
dirk-knife with a mother-of-pearl handle, which 
defied screwing, and I begged Don Augustin not 



254f ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

to trouble himself about it, as everything else was 
safe. But " No" he said, " No hay cuidado, no 
hay cuidado; we'll have everything out of them; 
strangers must not be robbed with impunity in my 
prefecture." However, it took another violent 
screw, and the poor wretch, with eyes starting out 
of his head, cried out at last to stop, and pulled 
out of his pocket the missing knife, which he had 
doubtless determined to keep, on the principle of 
having " something for his money." 

The chief delinquent was the priest's nephew, 
and most of the stolen property was concealed in 
the reverend gentleman's garden. To do him jus- 
tice, however, the padre was very active in his at- 
tempts to recover my property, and stood by his 
nephew, when under the process of the screw, to 
exhort him to confession, or administer extreme 
unction if it was necessary. 

When everything had been brought back, my 
good old patrona rushed to me with El Santo 
Nino de Atocha, which she begged of me to kiss, 
at the same time hanging it in my room to pro- 
tect it from another spoliation. That evening I 
was sitting at the door, enjoying a chat with the 
senoritas de la casa, and a cigarro, when I saw a 
figure, or rather the trunk, of a woman, moving 
along on what appeared to be the stumps of legs, 
enveloped in a cloud of dust, as she slowly crept 



THE LOST AMERICANS 255 

along the road. She passed three or four times, 
going and returning upwards of a hundred yards, 
and earnestly praying the while. " For Dios,'' I 
asked of one of the girls — " for God's sake, what's 
this?" 

" Es Dolores, la concinera it's Dolores, the 

cook — performing penance," was the answer ; 
and her vow instantly recurred to me. The poor 
old body had vowed to walk so many hundred 
yards on her knees in the public streets, repeat- 
ing at the same time a certain number of Ave 
Marias, if the credit of the family was restored by 
the discovery of the thief and the recovery of my 
property. 

I had a large pot of soup kept always on the 
fire, to which the half-starved Americans had ac- 
cess whenever they felt inclined, and, as I was sit- 
ting at the door, several of them passed into the 
house, brushing by the muchachas without the 
usual " con su licencia" much to the indignation 
of the ladies. 

It is a general impression amongst the lower 
classes in Mexico that the Americans are half 
savages, and perfectly uncivilized. The specimens 
they see in Northern Mexico are certainly not re- 
markably polished in manners or appearance, be- 
ing generally rough backwoodsmen from Missouri. 
They go by the name of "burros," — jackasses; 



^56 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

and have the reputation of being infidels who wor- 
ship the devil, &c. I was trying to explain to 
my female friends that the Americans were a very 
civilized people, and a great portion of them of 
the same religion as their own, but they scouted 
the idea ; the priests had told them the contrary, 
and now they saw with their own eyes that they 
were burros. 

" Ni saludan las mugeres! " indignantly ex- 
claimed a dark beauty, as a conclusive argument 
— " they do not even salute the women when they 
pass" — as, just at that moment, a Missourian, 
six feet high in his moccasins, stepped over her 
head as she sat on the sill of the gate. 

" Ni saludan las mugeres,'* she repeated ; " you 
see it yourself. Ah, no, por Dios, son burros, y 
muy sin vergilenzas — they are jackasses, and en- 
tirely without shame. Valgame Dios, que hombres 
tan fierosi — what wild men they are ! " 

In the northern part of Mexico beds are un- 
known in the ranchos, and even in the houses of 
respectable people. A species of mattress is 
spread upon the floor at night, on which the sheets 
and mantas are laid, and in the daytime is rolled 
up against the wall, and, neatly folded and cov- 
ered with a gay manta, forms a settee or sofa. 
Chairs are not used, and at meals the dishes are 
placed on. the ground, and the guests sit round in 



THE LOST AMERICANS £57 

Indian fashion, and dip their tortillas into the 
dish. A triangular piece of tortilla is converted 
into a spoon, and soup even is eaten in this way. 
Spoons are seldom met with even in the houses of 
the ricos, the use of the tortilla being universal. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

KING OF THE MINE 

ON the 3rd of November I left Guajo- 
quilla, under the escort of ten thousand 
blessings heaped upon me by my kind- 
hearted hostess and her family, and under the 
especial protection of the " holy infant of 
Atocha." We left after dark, as, on account of 
the novedades, it was deemed not only prudent, 
but indispensable to safety, to travel in the night. 
About two in the morning I was riding along 
muffled in my sarape, for it was piercingly cold, and 
half asleep at the time, when I descried ahead 
of me several camp-fires a little off the road. I 
at once set them down as Indians, as they had 
been seen the previous day between Guajoquilla 
and La Remada, and instantly stopped the cav- 
allada. Dismounting, I took my rifle, and ap- 
proached to reconnoitre, creeping up to within a 
few yards of the fire, where lay snoring a picket 
of soldiers, while a large body lay bivouacked 
around. I now remembered that a detachment 

was out, under the command of one Colonel 

258 



KING OF THE MINE 259 

Amendares, a noted matador de Indios, for the 
purpose of surprising a body of Indians which 
had passed the Conchos, and would probably re- 
turn by this route. Their anxiety to surprise 
the Indians was evident by the position they had 
chosen for their ambuscade, being bivouacked in 
the very middle of the Indian road, and under a 
high ridge of hills, over which the Indians had to 
pass, and from whence they could not fail to dis- 
cover their position. When I regained my horse, 
and passed close to their fires, I saluted them with 
a war-whoop which threw the whole camp into a 
ferment. 

A little after sunrise we reached the rancho of 
La Remada, where was a detachment of troops 
to protect the people from the Indians; and we 
halted here, to feed the animals, for two or three 
hours, after which we resumed our journey to 
Santa Rosalia. Just before entering the town I 
killed an antelope in the road. The animal ran 
to within a hundred yards of my horse, when it 
stopped and looked at me, giving me time to knock 
it over from my saddle. 

Santa Rosalia is a little dirty place, and has 
been selected by the Governor of Chihuahua as a 
point to be defended against the anticipated ad- 
vance of the Americans. With this object they 
were busily engaged throwing up walls and para- 



260 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

pets, and cutting ditches ; but all their work could 
not convert it into a tenable position. 

I put up in the house of an American who has 
a little " dry-goods " store in the town, and in 
the middle of the night was called up by a vio- 
lent knocking at the gate. As the mob had been 
talking of revenging themselves for the defeat 
sustained by the Mexican troops at Monterey the 
other day, by sacking the two unfortunate little 
stores belonging to Americans, my host thought 
his time was come, but, resolving to die game, 
came to me to assist in defending the house. We 
therefore carried all the arms into the store, and 
placed them on the counter, which served as a 
parapet for our bodies. The door of the shop 
opened into the street, and behind ifc we could hear 
the clanking of swords and other warlike noises. 
Presently a loud knock, and a voice exclaimed 
" Abra la puerta.^' 

'' Quien esf 1 asked — Who is it? No an- 
swer ; but " Abra la puerta! — open the door " — 
repeated. However, finding that we paid no at- 
tention to the request, another summons was tried, 
with the addition of " En el nombre del General 
— in the name of the General — who has sent me, 
his ayudante, to speak with the master of this 
house." With this " open sesame " we unbarred 
the door to the General's aide-de-camp, a ferocious- 



KING OF THE MINE 261 

looking individual with enormous moustache and 
clattering sabre. 

" Where," he asked, in an authoritative voice, 
" is this American spy who entered the town to- 
day and concealed himself in this house? " No 
answer. Question repeated with like effect. The 
moustached hero grinned with rage, and turned to 
his followers, saying, " You see this ; " and then, 
turning to us, said, " It is the General's order that 
every foreigner in this house immediately attend 
at his quarters, where you will answer for har- 
boring a spy," turning to the master of the house. 

We speedily donned our clothes, and appeared 
at the house of the General, who was sitting in 
a room waiting our arrival. Without waiting 
for any explanation, I immediately presented my 
credentials, saying, " Hi tiene us ted, mi General, 
mis pasapuertas y carta de securidad," which, to 
the dissatisfaction of the ayudante, after glanc- 
ing at, he returned with a low bow, and many 
apologies for disturbing me at so late an hour. 

It happened to be the feast of Las Animas, 
when money is collected by the priests for the 
purpose of praying souls out of purgatory, which 
on this day is done by wholesale. If money is 
not to be had, the collectors, usually children, 
with little boxes which have holes in which the 
coin is dropped, receive corn or beans; the con- 



^62 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

tribution of my landlord being a couple of tallow 
candles, which no doubt were efficacious in get- 
ting some unhappy soul out of several years' 
pawn, and perhaps were useful in greasing the way, 
as the donor remarked, to the exit of some ortho- 
dox pelado. 

Leaving Santa Rosalia on the 5th, we pro- 
ceeded to Los Saucillos, a small Indian village, the 
population of which is entirely employed in min- 
ing on their own account. It is situated on the 
Conchos, here a broad but shallow stream, which 
runs into the Del Norte above the presidio of 
that name: this village is thirty -six miles from 
Santa Rosalia. The gambucinos, or independent 
miners, are a class sui generis. Their gains de- 
pend entirely upon the bonanza, or the chance 
of striking a rich vein, which, with their system of 
grubbing and pickaxing at random, is a rare 
event. Still they work on year after year, with 
the golden vision of a bonanza ever before their 
eyes, which will at once raise them to compara- 
tive wealth ; and, stimulated by the hope, abandon 
all other labor for the speculative toil of mining. 
Thus, in these petty reales* a scarcity of pro- 
visions, and even of the necessaries of life, is 
very apparent. The gambucinos are glad to sell 

* Mines were, and are still called reales — royal — being, 
jn the time of the Spaniards, the property of the crowo. 



KING OF THE MINE ^63 

their pieces of ore, and even pure metal, for coin 
considerably less than their value; and the trav- 
eller is frequently offered little lumps of silver, 
and even gold, in exchange for money or articles 
of clothing. 

In this village there was a large empty haci- 
enda de beneficios, full of scoriae and dross, which 
covered the floor in heaps, with tumble-down fur- 
naces and mouldering apparatus long disused. 
Here I took up my abode, with the permission of 
an old Indian, who, perfectly naked save for a 
small piece of leather round his loins, was super- 
intending some smelting process in a furnace in 
one corner of the building. There was abundance 
of room for myself and animals, who ate their 
com out of the washing-troughs, and my supper 
was cooked on a little fire of charcoal made on 
the ground, the old Indian joining me in the re- 
past, and telling me long stories of the former 
riches of the mine, and the hundred times that he 
had been on the point of securing bonanzas. 

He was, he told me, the most scientific man in 
the place, knew the probable value of a lode at 
first sight, and was mu7/ aficionado a los hene- 
ficios — very expert in the process of extracting 
metal from ore. There had been a time when he 
made his two and three dollars a day, and ore was 
plentiful; but now the sierras were full of mala 



264 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

gente — demons and bad spirits — who snatched 
out of their fingers all the metal. He knew a 
mountain, where one had only to strike his pick- 
axe and grub up virgin silver at every blow; 
but it was presided over by a demonio^ whose 
heart was hard as granite, and who changed the 
silver into lead when a gambucino made his ap- 
pearance. Other sierras there were, he said, muy 
lejos — very far off — where he had been with 
his father when a boy, and procured much silver; 
but, shortly after, the Indians made their appear- 
ance in that country and killed all they found at 
work, and they had never been revisited. Tierra 
muy rica, y llena de plat a — a very rich country it 
was, and full of silver. 

He had, he told me, in his youth worked in 
the mine of Sombrerete, and had earned many a 
dollar in the bonanzas of the celebrated Veta 
Negra, the black vein (a lode of metal which 
yielded an extraordinary quantity of silver). He 
stayed at Sombrerete until this lode was worked 
out, and the cause of its failure he narrated to 
me in the following wonderful story, which he re- 
lated with the utmost gravity and most perfect 
seriousness. His gesticulations, and the solemn 
asseverations of the truth of the story with which 
he frequently interrupted it, greatly amused me; 
and perhaps no more appropriate locale for the 



KING OF THE MINE 265 

narration of such a tale could be found, than the 
spot in which we then were sitting. In the large 
vaulted building, with its earthen walls covered 
with mould, and deep recesses, into which the 
blaze from the fire scarcely penetrated, the old 
Indian sat cowering over the fire, his sharp, at- 
tenuated features lit up with animation as he nar- 
rated his story, stopping occasionally to puff from 
his mouth and nose a cloud of tobacco-smoke, and 
drawing round his naked figure a tattered blanket, 
as a cold blast of wind rushed through chinks in 
the dilapidated wall. In nearly these words he 
repeated 

The Legend of the Black Vein op Sombrerete 
("La Veta Negra de Sombrerete "). 

** Ojala por los dias de orof — oh for the days 
of gold " — sighed the old gambucino : " pero ya 
se acaho todo eso — but that is all over now ; ni 
oro, ni plata hay — neither gold nor silver is to 
be had now-a-days for picking or digging. Fe- 
dazitos, no mas — little bits one grubs up here 
and there; pero se acabo la veta negra — but 
the black vein, the black vein; onde estaf — where 
is it? Worked out long ago. 

" I was no older than your worship in those 
days, and my back was strong. Valgame madre 
santissimal but I could pack the ore nimbly in 



^66 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

the mine and up the shaft. Ay, and then all 
worked with a will, for it was all bonanza: day 
after day, month after month, year after year, 
there we were at the same old vein; and the more 
we cut into it the richer it grew. Ay que plat a! 
Oh what silver came out of that old vein ! bianco, 
rico, pesado — white, rich, and heavy it was — 
all silver, all silver. Five hundred pesos fuertes 
I made in one week. Que hermosita era aquella 
vet a negraf — what a beautiful little vein was that 
black one! 

" But your worship yawns, and my poor old 
head turns round when it thinks of that time. 
Pues, seftor. All the miners (for there were no 
gambucinos then) were making dollars as fast as 
they could, but the more they got the more they 
wanted, although not one of the laziest but had 
more than he ever before had dreamed of possess- 
ing. However, they were not satisfied, and all com- 
plained because they did not strike a richer vein 
than the old veta negra — as if that were possible ! 

" The most dissatisfied of all the miners was 
a little deformed man called Pepito, who did noth- 
ing but swear at and curse his bad luck, although 
he had made enough money to last three of his lives ; 
and the miserly style in which he lived was the by- 
word of everybody. 

" However, whether it was from a bitterness of 



KING OF THE MINE 267 

spirit caused by his deformity, or from genuine 
badness of heart, Pepito was continually grum- 
bling at the old vein, calling it by every oppro- 
brious epithet which he could summon to the end 
of his tongue, and which was enough to break the 
heart of any vein, even of iron. 

" One night — it was the fiesta of San Lorenzo 
— all the miners were away in the town, for they 
had agreed to give themselves a holiday ; but Pe- 
pito took his basket and pick, and declared his 
intention of remaining to work : ' for,' said he, 
' what time have I for holiday, when, with all my 
work, work, work, I only get enough out of that 
stony old vein to keep me in frijolitos, without 
a taste of pulque, since — quwn sahe? — how long 
ago ? Maldita sea la veta, digo yo — curse such 
a vein, say I ! ' 

" Valgame Dios! — this to the black vein, the 
black vein of Sombrerete ! " apostrophized the old 
gambucino. 

" Now your worship knows, of course (but 
quien sahef for foreigners are great fools), that 
every mine has its metal-king, its mina-padre, to 
whom all the ore belongs. He is, your worship 
knows, not a man, nor a women, but a spirit — 
and a very good one, if he is not crossed or an- 
noyed; and when the miners curse or quarrel at 
their work, he often cuts off the vein, or changes 



268 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

it to heavy lead or iron; but when they worlc 
well and hard, and bring him a good stock of 
cigarros, or leave him in the gallery, when they 
quit the mine, a little bottle of pulque or mezcal, 
then he often sends bonanzas, and plenty of rich 
ore. 

" Well, every one said, when they heard Pepito's 
determination to remain alone in the mine, and 
after he had so foully abused the celebrated veta 
negra, ' Valgame! if Pepito doesn't get a visit 
from padre-mina to-night, it's because he has bor- 
rowed holy water or a rosarioncito from Father 
Jose, the cura of Sombrerete.' 

" We were all going to work again at midnight, 
but the mezcal was so good that none stirred 
from the pulqueria long after that hour. I, how- 
ever, shouldered my pick and trudged up the hill 
to the shaft, first waking up the watchman, who 
lay snoring at the gate of the hacienda, wrapped 
in his sarape. I took him with me to the mouth 
of the shaft, that he might lower me down in the 
basket; and down I went. When I got to the 
bottom I called to Pepito, for, knowing he was 
working there, I had not brought a lantern, but 
heard nothing save the echo of my own voice, 
sounding hollow and loud, as it vibrated through 
the passages and galleries of the mine. Think- 
ing he might be asleep, I groped my way to where 



KING OF THE MINE 269 

we had been working the great lode in the morn- 
ing, thinking to find him in that direction, and 
hallooing as I crept, but still no answer ; and when 
I shouted ' Pepito, Pepito, onde est a? ' — where 
are you? — the echo cried jeeringly, * Onde estaf ' 
" At length I began to get frightened. Mines, 
everybody knows, are full of devils, and gnomes, 
and bad spirits of every kind; and here was I, 
at midnight, alone, and touching the * black vein ' 
which had been so abused. I did not like to call 
again to Pepito, for the echo frightened me, and 
I felt assured that the answer was made by some 
unearthly voice, and came direct from the lode of 
the veta negra, that we were working. I crept 
back to the bottom of the shaft, and, looking up 
to the top, where the sky showed no bigger than 
a tortilla, with one bright star looking straight 
down, I shouted for the watchman to lower the 
basket and draw me up; but, holy mother! my 
voice seemed to knock itself to pieces on the sides 
of the shaft as it struggled up, and when it reached 
the top must have been a whisper. I sat down 
and fairly cried, when a loud shout of laughter 
rattled along the galleries, and broke as it were 
up the shaft; I trembled like quicksilver, and 
heavy drops of perspiration dropped from my 
forehead to the ground. There was another shout 
of laughter, and a voice cried out — 



270 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

*' * Come here, Mattias, come here.' 

'' ' Where, most wonderful senor ? ' I asked, 
thinking it as well to be respectful. 

" ' Here, here to the black vein, the old leaden, 
useless vein,' cried the voice, mockingly; and I 
thought with horror of the abuse it had that day 
received. 

" Half dead with fear, I crept along the gallery, 
and turning an abrupt angle, came upon the lode 
we had been working. Ave Maria purissima! 
what a sight met my eyes ! The gallery seemed 
a mass of fire, yet there was no blaze and no 
heat. The rock which contained the vein of ore, 
and the ore itself, were like solid fire; and yet it 
wasn't fire, for there was no heat, as I said, but 
a glare so bright that one could see away into 
the rock, which seemed to extend miles and miles ; 
and every grain of quartz, and even the smallest 
particle of sand, of which it was composed, was 
blazing with light, and shone separately like a 
million diamonds knocked in one; and yet the eye 
saw miles into the bowels of the earth, and every 
grain of sand was thus lit up. But if the stone, 
and the grit, and the sand were thus fiery bright, 
and the eye scorched to look upon it, what words 
can describe the glitter of the vein, now of spark- 
ling silver, and white, as it were, with flame, but 
over which a blaclt; blush now and then shot, and 



KING OF THE MINE 271 

instantaneously disappeared? It wanted not this, 
however, to tell me that I was looking at the end- 
less V'eta negra, the scorned, abused black vein, 
which throbbed, miles and miles away into the 
earth, with virgin silver, enough to supply the 
world for worlds to come. 

" * Ha, ha, ha ! ' roared the voice ; ' the old 
leaden, useless vein. Where's the man that can 
eat all this silver's worth of frijolitos? Bring 
him here, bring him here.' And forthwith a thou- 
sand little sparkling figures jumped out of the 
scintillating rock, and, springing to the ground, 
ringing like new-coined pesos, they seized upon the 
body of Pepito, which I had not till now observed, 
who lay, blue with fear, in a comer of the gallery, 
and, lifting him on their shoulders, brought him 
in front of the silver vein. The brightness of the 
metal scorched his eyes, which still could not, even 
in his fear, resist feasting on the richness of the 
glittering lode. 

" ' Bonanza, una bonanza! ' shouted the enrap- 
tured miner, forgetting his situation, and the pres- 
ence he was in, for the figure (if figure it can be 
called, which was like a mist of silver fire) of the 
padre-mina — the mine-king — was now seen sit- 
ting in state on the top of the vein. 

" ' Bonanza ! ' shouted the same voice deri- 
sively ; * bonanza, from an old leaden, useless vein! ' 



212 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

repeating the terms which Pepito had used in abus- 
ing it. ' Where's the man can eat this silver's 
worth of f rij olitos ? ' 

" * What does he deserve who has thus slighted 
the silver king? ' * Turn him to lead, lead, lead! ' 
answered the voice. ' Away with him then.' 

" The thousand sparkling silverines seized the 
struggling miner. ' Not lead, not lead,' he 
shouted ; ' anything but lead ! ' But they held 
him fast by the legs, and bore him opposite the 
lode. 

" The rock sparkled up into a thousand times 
more brilliant corruscations than before, and for 
an instant I thought my eyes would have ' burned ' 
with looking at the silver vein, so heavenly bright 
it shone. An instant after a void remained in 
the rock; a horrid black void. The vein had dis- 
appeared, but the rock itself was still as bright 
as ever, all but the black opening which yawned 
from out the brightness ; and opposite this stood 
the thousand silverines, bearing the body of the 
luckless gambucino. 

" ' Uno, dos, TRESy^ shouted the mine-king ; 
and at the word ' tres ' — with a hop, skip, and 
a jump — right into the gaping hollow sprang the 
thousand silverines, with the luckless miner on their 
shoulders, whose body, the instant that his heels 



KING OF THE MINE 27S 

disappeared into the opening, with these very eyes 
I saw turned to lead. 

" Santa Maria ! then all became dark, and I fell 
senseless to the ground. 

" When I recovered a little, I thought to my- 
self, now will come my turn; but, hoping to con- 
ciliate the angry mine-king, I sought, in the breast 
of my shirt, for a bottle of mezcal, which I re- 
membered I had brought with me. There was the 
bottle, but without a single drop of liquor. This 
puzzled me; but when I called to mind the fiery 
spectacle I had just witnessed, I felt no doubt but 
that the liquor had been dried up in the bottle by 
the great heat. 

" However, I was not molested, and in a short 
time the miners returned to their work, and, find- 
ing me pale and trembling, called me tonto, 
horacho — drunk and mad. We proceeded to the 
lode and grubbed away, but all we succeeded in 
picking out were a few lumps of poor lead-ore; 
and from that day not a dollar's worth of silver 
was ever drawn from the famous * black vein of 
Sombrerete.' " 

On the 6th we made a short day's journey to 
San Pablo, a little town on a confluent of the 
Conchos, in the midst of a marshy plain. Arrived 



274 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

in the plaza, I had despatched my servant in 
search of a corral, and was myself taking care of 
the animals, when a caballero came out of a house 
in the square, and very politel}^ invited me to take 
up my quarters with him for the night, and place 
the mulada in his stables. This offer I gladly 
accepted, and was presently shown into a large 
comfortable room, and, moreover, invited to din- 
ner with my entertainer and his friends. The 
dinner was served on a table — an unusual lux- 
ury; but knife, fork, or spoon, there was none. 
Before commencing, at a signal from his master, 
the mozo in attendance said a long grace, at the 
conclusion of which every one crossed himself de- 
voutly and fell to. One large tumbler of water 
was placed in the centre of the table, but the cus- 
tom is not to drink until the meal is finished; so 
that, if a stranger lays hold of the glass during 
dinner, he is instantly stopped by the host, who 
tells him ** que viene otra cosa,^' that something 
else is coming. 

The next morning I was in the act of making 
a very long entry in my note-book, to the effect 
that at last I had met with hospitality in Mex- 
ico, when the mozo presented himself with a bill 
of yesterday's entertainment: seis reoles por la 
comida — dinner, six reals — and out came the leaf 
of my memorandum-book, al instante. 



KING OF THE MINE 275 

In Guajoquilla I had been tempted to pur- 
chase a very beautiful " entero,'* an alazan, or 
blood chestnut stallion, with long flowing tail and 
mane, and a perfect specimen of a Mexican ca- 
hallo de paseo; the most showy and spirited, and 
at the same time most perfectly good-tempered 
animal I ever mounted, and so well trained, that 
I frequently fired at game, resting the rifle on its 
back, without its moving a muscle. It had trav- 
elled, without shoes, and over a flinty road, from 
Guajoquilla, and had become so sore-footed that 
I feared I should be compelled to leave it behind 
me ; but hearing that there was an American black- 
smith in San Pablo, I paid him a visit for the 
purpose of getting him to shoe the alazan; but 
unluckily he had no shoes by him, nor the where- 
withal to make a set. Strange to say, that al- 
though at this time the horse was so lame that I 
feared he had foundered altogether, before reach- 
ing Chihuahua, and over a very hard road, his 
feet entirely recovered their soundness, and the 
next day he travelled without the slightest diffi- 
culty. 

On the 7th, leaving San Pablo, I met a caravan 
of wagons from Chihuahua, with a number of of- 
ficers and families, who were leaving that city from 
fear of the Americans, who were reported to be 
on their way to attack it. Amongst the party 



^76 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

was the celebrated Andalusian matador Bernardo, 
who with his troop of bullfighters had been lately 
attacked by the Indians, and nearly all of them 
killed — himself escaping after a desperate sword- 
fight and many severe wounds. We passed the 
Canada, a deep ravine, through which runs a 
small stream, and where are the ruins of an In- 
dian fort. It is dreaded by travellers, as here the 
Indians attack them from behind rocks, without 
exposure to themselves. In the Canada we met 
a couple of priests, with several pupils, on their 
way to Durango college: they were all well 
mounted and armed. Shortly after passing the 
deserted rancho of Bachimba, we met a General 
with his escort, " making himself scarce " from* 
Chihuahua; and as they were in the act of en- 
camping, and not wishing to remain in the neigh- 
borhood of the pilfering soldados, I rode on, al- 
though it was then sunset, and encamped several 
miles beyond, where unluckily the stream was dry, 
and no water procurable. 

The next morning, at sunrise, we started for 
Chihuahua, crossing a plain abounding with ante- 
lope, and reached that city about two o'clock. 
The first appearance of the town from a neigh- 
boring hill is extremely picturesque, its white 
houses, church-spires, and the surrounding gar- 
dens affording a pleasing contrast to the barren 



KING OF THE MINE 277 

plain which surrounds it. I was most hospitably 
received by an English family resident in the 
town, who had the exclusive management of the 
mint and the numerous mines in the neighborhood. 
In this remote and but semi-civilized city, I was 
surprised to find that they had surrounded them- 
selves with all the comforts, and many of the lux- 
uries, of an English home ; and the kindness I here 
experienced almost spoiled me for the hardships 
and privations I met with in my subsequent jour- 
ney. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE BARBARIANS OF THE NOETH 

CHIHUAHUA, the capital city of the 
state or department of that name, was 
built towards the close of the seventeenth 
century; and therefore cannot boast of such an- 
tiquity even as the more remote city of Santa 
Fe. Its population is between eight and ten thou- 
sand permanent inhabitants; although it is the 
resort of many strangers from New Mexico, Cali- 
fornia, and Sonora. The cathedral, which is con- 
sidered by the American traders one of the finest 
structures in the world, is a large building in no 
style of architecture, but with rather a handsome 
fa9ade, embellished with statues of the twelve 
apostles. 

Opposite the principal entrance, over the por- 
tals which form one side of the square, were 
dangling the grim scalps of one hundred and sev- 
enty Apaches, who had lately been most treacher- 
ously and inhumanly butchered by the Indian 
hunters in the pay of the state. The scalps of 
men, women, and children were brought into the 
278 



THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 279 

town in procession, and hung as trophies, in this 
conspicuous situation, of Mexican valor and hu- 
manity ! 

The unfinished convent of San Francisco, com- 
menced by the Jesuits prior to their expulsion 
from the country, is also a conspicuous mass of 
masonry and bad taste. It is celebrated as hav- 
ing been the place of confinement of the patriot 
Hidalgo, the Mexican Hampden, who was exe- 
cuted in a yard behind the building in 1811. A 
monument to his memory has been erected in the 
Plaza de Armas, a pyramid of stone, with an 
inscription eulogistic of that one honest Mexi- 
can. 

The town also boasts a Casa de Moneda, or 
mint, under the management of an English gen- 
tleman, where silver, gold, and copper are coined, 
and an aduana, or customhouse. An aqueduct 
conveys water to the city from the neighboring 
stream, the work of the former Spanish govern- 
ment : it is small, and badly constructed. 

The shops are filled with goods of the most 
paltry description, brought mostly from the 
United States by way of Santa Fe. The cotton 
goods called " domestics " in the United States 
are, however, of good quality, and in great de- 
mand. Traders arriving in Chihuahua either sell 
their goods in bulk to resident merchants, or, open- 



280 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

ing a store, retail them on their own account ; but 
the latter method occasions great delay and in- 
convenience, the payments being made in copper 
and small coins, which it is difficult to exchange for 
gold, and are not current out of the state. 

The trade between the United States and Santa 
Fe and Chihuahua presents a curious feature in 
international commerce. The capital embarked 
in it must exceed a million of dollars, which, how- 
ever, is subject to great risks, not only on ac- 
count of the dangers to be apprehended in passing 
the vast prairies, both from Indian attacks and 
the loss of animals by the severity of the climate, 
but from the uncertainty of the laws in force in 
the remote departments of Mexico with regard 
to the admission of goods and the duties exacted 
on them. 

It appears that in the " port " of Santa Fe 
the ordinary derechos de arancel, or customs du- 
ties, have been laid aside, and a new tariff sub- 
stituted, by the late Governor Armijo, who, in- 
stead of levying the usual ad valorem duties on 
goods imported from the United States, estab- 
lished the system of exacting duties on " wagon- 
loads," without reference to the nature of the 
goods contained in them, each wagon paying 500 
dollars, whether large or small. The injustice of 
such an impost was apparent, since the merchant, 



THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 281 

who carried an assortment of rich and valuable 
goods into the interior of the country for the fair 
of San Juan and the markets of the capital and 
larger cities, paid the same duty as the petty 
trader on his wagon-load of trumpery for the 
Santa F'e market. 

Moreover, the revenue of the customs must have 
suffered in an equal ratio, for the traders, to 
avoid the duties, crowded two or more ordinary 
wagon-loads into one huge one, and thus saved 
the duties on two wagons. Notwithstanding this, 
however, the system still prevails, much to the 
dissatisfaction of those who, in the former state of 
things, could, by the skilful application of a bribe, 
pass any amount of goods at almost nominal ex- 
pense. 

The state of Chihuahua produces gold, silver, 
copper, iron, saltpetre, &c. ; indeed, it is productive 
in mineral wealth alone, for the soil is thin and 
poor, and there is everywhere a great scarcity of 
water. It is, moreover, infested with hostile In- 
dians, who ravage the whole country, and prevent 
many of its most valuable mines from being 
worked. These Indians are the Apaches, who in- 
habit the ridges and plains of the Cordillera, the 
Sierra Madre on the west, and the tracts between 
the Conchos and Del Norte on the east, while scat- 
tered tribes roam over all parts of the state, com- 



282 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

mitting devastations on the ranches and haciendas, 
and depopulating the remote villages. 

For the purpose of carrying on a war against 
the daring savages a species of company was 
formed by the Chihuahuenos, with a capital raised 
by subscription. This company, under the aus- 
pices of the government, offered a bounty of 50 
dollars a scalp, as an inducement to people to un- 
dertake a war of extermination against the 
Apaches. One Don Santiago Kirker, an Irish- 
man, long resident in Mexico, and for many years 
a trapper and Indian trader in the far West, whose 
exploits in Indian killing would fill a volume, was 
placed at the head of a band of some hundred and 
fifty men, including several Shawanee and Dela- 
ware Indians, and sent en campana against the 
Apaches. The fruits of the campaign were the 
trophies I saw dangling in front of the cathedral. 

In the month of August, the Apaches being then 
" en paz " with the state, entered, unarmed, the 
village of Galeana, for the purpose of trading. 
This band, which consisted of a hundred and 
seventy, including women and children, was under 
the command of a celebrated chief, and had no 
doubt committed many atrocities on the Mexicans ; 
but at this time they had signified their desire 
for peace to the government of Chihuahua, and 
were now trading in good faith, and under pro- 



THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 283 

tection of the faith of treaty. News of their ar- 
rival having been sent to Kirker, he immediately 
forwarded several kegs of spirits, with which they 
were to be regaled, and detained in the village until 
he could arrive with his band. On a certain day, 
about ten in the morning, the Indians being at the 
time drinking, dancing, and amusing themselves, 
and unarmed, Kirker sent forward a messenger to 
say that at such an hour he would be there. 

The Mexicans, when they saw him approach 
with his party, suddenly seized their arms and set 
upon the unfortunate Indians, who, without even 
their knives, attempted no resistance, but, throw- 
ing themselves on the ground when they saw Kir- 
ker's men surrounding them, submitted to their 
fate. The infuriated Mexicans spared neither age 
nor sex; with fiendish shouts they massacred their 
unresisting victims, glutting their long pent-up 
revenge of many years of persecution. . . . 

A hundred and sixty men, women, and children 
were slaughtered, and, with the scalps carried on 
poles, Kirker's party entered Chihuahua — in pro- 
cession, headed by the Governor and priests, with 
bands of music escorting them in triumph to the 
town. 

Nor is this a solitary instance of similar bar- 
barity, for on two previous occasions parties of 
American traders and trappers perpetrated most 



284^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

treacherous atrocities on tribes of the same nation 
on the river Gila. The Indians on their part equal 
their more civilized enemies in barbarity ; and such 
is the war of extermination carried on between the 
Mexicans and Apaches. 

But to return to Chihuahua. The state, which 
comprises an area of 107,584 square miles, con- 
tains only 180,000 inhabitants (and this is prob- 
ably an exaggerated estimate), or not two inhabi- 
tants to the square mile. Of this vast territory 
not twenty square miles are under cultivation, and 
at least three-fifths is utterly sterile and unpro- 
ductive. The city of Chihuahua is distant from 
Mexico, in a direct line, 1^50 miles, and from the 
nearest seaport, Guaymas, in the Gulf of Cali- 
fornia, over an almost impracticable country, 600 
miles. Thus its isolated position and compara- 
tive worthlessness to Mexico are apparent. 

Chihuahua is a paradise for sportsmen. In the 
sierras and mountains are found two species of 
bears — the common black or American bear, and 
the grizzly bear of the Rocky Mountains. The 
last are the most numerous, and are abundant in 
the sierras in the neighborhood of Chihuahua. 
The carnero cimarron — the big-horn or Rocky 
Mountain sheep — is also common on the Cor- 
dillera. Elk, black-tailed deer, cola-prieta (a 
large species of the fallow deer), the common red 



THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 285 

deer of America, and antelope, abound on all the 
plains and sierras. Of smaller game, peccaries 
(javali), also called cojamete, hares, and rabbits 
are everywhere numerous ; and beavers are still 
found in the Gila, the Pecos, the Del Norte, and 
their tributary streams. Of birds — the faisan, 
commonly called paisano, a species of pheasant: 
the quail, or rather a bird between a quail and a 
partridge, is abundant; while every variety of 
snipe and plover is found on the plains, not for- 
getting the grwya, of the crane kind, whose meat 
is excellent. There are also two varieties of wolf 
— the white, or mountain wolf ; and the coyote, or 
small wolf of the plains, whose long-continued and 
melancholy howl is an invariable adjunct to a 
Mexican night encampment. 

But, perhaps, in all departments of natural his- 
tory the entomologist would find the plains of Chi- 
huahua most prolific in specimens. I have counted 
seventy-five varieties of grasshoppers and locusts, 
some of enormous size, and most brilliant and fan- 
tastic colors. 

There is also an insect peculiar to this part of 
Mexico — at least I have not met with it except- 
ing on the plains of Durango and Chihuahua, 
neither have I met with more than one traveller 
who has observed it, although it is most curious 
and worthy of attention. This insect is from four 



^86 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

to six inches in length, and has four long and slen- 
der legs. The body appears to the naked eye to 
be nothing more than a blade of grass, without the 
slightest muscular action or appearance of vital- 
ity, excepting in the antennae, which are two in 
number, and about half an inch in length. They 
move very slowly on their long legs, and resemble 
a blade of grass being carried by ants. I saw 
them several times before examining them minutely, 
thinking that they were in fact bits of grass. I 
heard of no other name for them than the local 
one of zacateros, from zacate (grass); and the 
Mexicans assert that, if horses or mules swallow 
these insects, they invariably die.* 

Of bugs and beetles there is endless variety — 
including the cocuyo or lantern-bug, and the ta- 
rantula. 

Of reptiles those most frequently met with are 
the rattlesnake and copper-head, both of which 
are poisonous. The scorpion is common all over 
the republic, and its sting is sometimes fatal to 
children or persons of inflammable temperament. 
The chameleon abounds in the plains, a grotesque, 
but harmless and inoffensive animal. It always 

* Since writing the above, I find that this insect is no- 
ticed in Clavigero, who calls it, on the authority of Her- 
nandez, quauhmecatl, a Mexican name: therefore it is prob- 
able that it is also found in Southern Mexico. 



THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 287 

assimilates its color to that of the soil where it 
is found. The chameleon is the *' horned frog " 
of the prairies of America. 

The characteristic shrub on the plains of Chi- 
huahua is the mesquite — a species of acacia, which 
grows to the height of ten or twelve feet. The 
seeds, contained in a small pod, resemble those of 
the laburnum, and are used by the Apaches to 
make a kind of bread or cake, which is sweet and 
pleasant to the taste. The wood is exceedingly 
hard and heavy.* This constantly recurring and 
ugly shrub becomes quite an eyesore to the trav- 
eller passing the mesquite-covered plains, as it is 
the only thing in the shape of a tree seen for hun- 
dreds of miles, excepting here and there a solitary 
alamo or willow, which overhangs a spring, and 
which invariably gives a name to the rancho or 
hacienda which may generally be found in the vi- 
cinity of water. Thus day after day I passed the 
ranchos of El Sauz, Los Sauzes, Los Sauzillos — 
the willow, the willows, the little willows — or El 
Alamos, Los Alamitos — the poplar, the little 
poplars. The last is the only timber found on 
the streams in Northern Mexico, and on the Del 
Norte and the Arkansas it grows to a great size. 

Chihuahua at this time was in a state of con- 

* From the mesquite exudes a resin resembling gum 
Arabic. 



288 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

siderable ferment, on account of the anticipated 
advance of the Americans upon the city from New- 
Mexico. That department had been occupied by 
them without opposition, Governor Armijo and his 
three thousand heroes scattering before the bar- 
barians of the north, as they please to call the 
Americans, without firing a shot. A body of 
troops had now advanced to the borders of the de- 
partment, and were known to be encamped on the 
Rio del Norte, at the entrance of the " Jornada 
del Muerto " — the deadman's journey — a tract 
of desert, without wood or water, which extends 
nearly one hundred miles across a bend of the 
river; and a journey across which is dreaded by 
the Mexicans, not only on account of these natural 
difficulties, but from the fact of its being the haunt 
of numerous bands of Apaches, who swoop down 
from the sierras upon travellers, who, with their 
exhausted animals, have but little chance of es- 
cape. 

In the rear of the American troops was the long- 
expected caravana of upwards of two hundred 
wagons, destined for Chihuahua and the fair of 
San Juan, These, entering Santa Fe with the 
troops, had of course paid no duty in that port of 
entry, and it was a great obj ect with the Governor 
of Chihuahua that they should proceed to that 
city and pay the usual duties to him, which other- 



THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 289 

wise would have been payable to the customhouse 
of Santa Fe. The government being entirely 
without funds, and anxious to raise and equip a 
body of troops to oppose the advance of the 
Americans, the arrival of the caravan would have 
been most opportune, since, at the usual rate of 
duties, viz. 500 dollars for each wagon, the amount 
to be received by the government would exceed 
100,000 dollars. 

However, the merchants, particularly the Ameri- 
cans, were reluctant to trust their property to the 
chances of Mexican honor, not knowing how they 
might be treated under the present circumstances 
of war : and having neglected to profit by the per- 
mission of General Kearney, who then commanded 
the United States troops, to proceed to their desti- 
nation; now, that that officer had advanced to 
California, and the command had devolved on an- 
other, they were ordered to remain in the rear of the 
troops, and not to advance excepting under their 
escort. The commanding officer deemed it im- 
prudent to allow such an amount of the sinews of 
war to be placed in the hands of the enemy, to be 
used against the Americans. That this was very 
proper under the circumstances there could be no 
gainsaying, but at the same time there was a very 
large amount of property belonging to English 
merchants and others of neutral nations, who were 



S90 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

suffering enormous losses by the detention of their 
goods; and as no official notification had been 
given of the blockade of the frontier town of 
Santa Fe, this prohibition to proceed was consid- 
ered unjust and arbitrary. My opinion, however, 
is, that the officer in command of the United States 
troops was perfectly justified in the course he 
pursued, knowing well the uses to which the money 
thus obtained would have been applied. 

In order to keep the enemy in ignorance of the 
state of affairs in Chihuahua, no one had been per- 
mitted to leave the state for some months ; and 
when it was known that I had received a carte 
blanche from Don Angel Trias, the Governor, to 
proceed where I pleased, I was from this circum- 
stance invested with all kinds of official dignities 
by the population. As it was known that I was 
the bearer of sundry despatches from the Gover- 
nor to the Americans, I was immediately voted to 
be commissionado on the part of the Mexican gov- 
ernment to treat for peace, or I was un coronet 
Yngles, bound to Oregon to settle the difference 
respecting that disputed territory. The mysteri- 
ous fact of an Englishman travelling through the 
country at such a time, and being permitted to 
proceed " al norte,^^ which permission their most 
influential citizens had been unable to obtain, was 
sufficient to put the curious on the qui-vive; and 



THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 291 

when on the morning of my departure an escort 
of soldiers was seen drawn up at my door, I was 
immediately promoted to be " somebody." 

This escort — save the mark ! — consisted of 
two or three dragoons of the regiment of Vera 
Cruz, which had been several years in Santa Fe, 
but had run away with the Governor on the ap- 
proach of the Americans, and were now stationed 
at Chihuahua. Their horses — wretched, half- 
starved animals — were borrowed for the occa- 
sion ; and the men, refusing to march without some 
provision for the road, were advanced their 
" sueldo " by a patriotic merchant of the town, 
who gave each a handful of copper coins, which 
they carefully tied up in the corners of their 
sarapes. Their dress was original and uniform 
(in rags). One had on a dirty broad-brimmed 
straw hat, another a handkerchief tied round his 
head. One had a portion of a jacket, another 
was in his shirt-sleeves, with overalls, open to the 
winds, reaching a little below the knees. All were 
bootless and unspurred. One had a rusty swDrd 
and lance, another a gun without a hammer, the 
third a bow and arrows. Although the nights 
were piercingly cold, they had but one wretched, 
tattered sarape of the commonest kind between 
them, and no rations of any description. 

These were regulars of the regiment of Vera 



^92 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 

Cruz. I may as well here mention that, two or 
three months after, Colonel Doniphan, with 900 
volunteers, marched through the state of Chi- 
huahua, defeating on one occasion 3000 Mexicans 
with great slaughter, and taking the city itself, 
without losing one man in the campaign. 

At Sacramento the Mexicans entrenched them- 
selves behind formidable breastworks, having ten 
or twelve pieces of artiUery in battery, and num- 
bering at least '3000. Will it be believed that 
these miserable creatures were driven from their 
position, and slaughtered like sheep, by 900 raw 
backwoodsmen, who did not lose one single man 
in the encounter? * 

* So reported at the time. The Mexicans in fact lost 
some three hundred killed, about the same number wounded, 
and forty were taken prisoners. Colonel Doniphan had one 
man killed and d^t wounded, several of them mortally. 
{Ed.) 



THE END 



OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY^NEW YORK 




OUTING 
ADVENTUR E 
LIBRARY 

Edited by Horace Kephart 

Here are brought together for the first 
time the great stories of adventure of aU ages 
and countries. These are the personal records 
of the men who climbed the mountains, pene- 
trated the jungles, explored the seas and crossed the desert; 
who knew th© chances and took them, and lived to write their 
own tales of hardship, endurance and achievement. The series will 
consist of an indeterminate number of volumes — for the stories are 
myriad. The whole will be edited by Horace Kephart. Each 
volume answers the test of these questions : Is it true ? Is it inter- 
esting? The entire series is uniform in style and binding. Among 
the titles now ready or in preparation are those described on the 
following pages. Price $1.00 each, net. Postage 10 cents extra. 

IN THE OLD WEST, by George Frederick 
Ruxton. The men who blazed the trail across the Rockies to 
the Pacific were independent trappers and hunters in the days before 
the Mexican war. They left no records of their adventures and 
most of them linger now only as shadowy names. But a young 
Englishman lived among them for a time, saw life from their point 
of view, trapped with them and fought with them against the Indians. 
That was George Frederick Ruxton. His story is our only complete 
picture of the Old West in the days of the real pioneers, of Kit 
Carson, Jim Bridger, Bill Williams, the Sublettes, and all the rest 
of that glorious company of the forgotten who opened the West. 




OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK 

CASTAWAYS AND CRUSOES. Since the beginning 
of navigation men have faced the dangers of shipwreck and starva- 
tion. Scattered through the annals of the sea are the stories of 
those to whom disaster came and the personal records of the 
way they met it. Some of them are given in this volume, narratives 
of men who lived by their hands among savages on forlorn 
coasts, or drifted helpless in open boats. They range from the 
South Seas to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, from Patagonia to Cuba. 
They are echoes from the days when the best that could be hoped 
by the man who went to sea was hardship and man's-sized work. 

CAPTIVES AMONG THE INDIANS. First of all is 

the story of Captain James Smith, who was captured by the Bela- 
wares at the time of Braddock's defeat, was adopted into the tribe, 
and for four years lived as an Indian, hunting with them, studying 
their habits, and learning their point of view. Then there is the 
story of Father Bressani who felt the tortures of the Iroquois, of 
Mary Rowlandson who was among the human spoils of King 
Philip's war, and of Mercy Harbison who suffered in the red flood 
that followed St. Clair's defeat. All are personal records made by 
the actors themselves in those days when the Indian was constantly 
at our forefather's doors. 

FIRST THROUGH THE GRAND CANYON, 
by Major John Wesley Powell. Major Powell was an officer in 
the Union Army who lost an arm at Shiloh. In spite of this, years 
after the war he organized an expedition which explored the Grand 
Canyon of the Colorado in boats — the first to make this journey. His 
story has been lost for years in the oblivion of a scientific report. 
It is here rescued and presented as a record of one of the great 
personal exploring feats, fitted to rank with the exploits of Pike, 
Lewis and Clark, and Mackenzie. 




OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY-NEW YORK 
ADVENTURES IN MEXICO, by George Frederick 

Ruxton. This volume describes Ruxton's second visit to America, 
but this time he landed at Vera Cruz, from where he went to Mexico 
City and thence north to the American border. Mexico was then at 
war with the United States, bandits roamed over the country right up 
to the gates of the capital, and Indians infested the northern part. 
Still he made the jotfmey of 2,000 miles, often alone, experiencing 
many exciting adventures. 

WILD LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, by 
George Frederick Ruxton. A continuation of Ruxton's 
ADVENTURES IN MEXICO, from Chihuahua north. In the course 
of his journey he had to pass through treeless deserts, where ho 
suffered much from lack of water; spent the winter in the Rocky 
Mountains and finally crossed the United States boundary. 

THE GOLD HUNTER, by J. D. Borthwick. 

He was an English artist who joined the rush of treasurer seekers 
to California in 1851. It is a Uvely description of the voyage via 
Panama, of San Francisco from its days of the bowie-knife and top- 
boots to its development into an orderly community, of life (and death) 
in "the diggings" and of the motley gathering of all nationalities in 
town and camp, their toil, sports, virtues, crimes and shifting fortunes. 
The book covers the period from 1851-1856. 




OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NBW YORK . 
ADRIFT IN THE ARCTIC ICE-PACK, by Dr, 

Elisha Kent Kane. Dr. Kane was connected with one of the 
numerous relief expeditions which went north in the middle of the 
last century, sailing from New York early in the spring of 1849. 
They found themselves caught in the ice of Lancaster Sound early 
in the fall and spent the entire winter driving to and fro across the 
Sound frozen fast in the ice-pack. Dr. Kane's narrative gives the 
most vivid and accurate account that has ever appeared of ship life 
during an arctic winter. He contributes many important observa- 
tions as to ice and weather conditions. His picture of the equip- 
ment and provisions makes rather strange reading in the light of 
our modern development for exploration purposes. 

THE LION HUNTER, by Ronalyn Gordon- 
Cumming. The author was an Englishman who was among the 
first of the now numerous tribe of sportsmen writers. Going out to 
South Africa in the early half of the last century he found a hunting 
field as yet untouched; antelope roamed the plains like cattle on a 
western range and lions were almost as numerous as coyotes in the 
old cattle days. In the course of his wanderings with the handful 
of natives, he penetrated the far interior of Africa and finally 
encountered Livingston. His account of his experiences with 
dangerous game armed only with the old-fashioned muzzle-loaded 
rifles makes the exploits of modem sportsmen seem almost puny 
in their safety. 

HOBART PASHA, by Augustus Charles Hobart- 
Hampden. Recollections of one of the most remarkable men of 
the 19th century. He served in the English Navy from 1835-1863, 
after which he engaged in blockade running in the interest of the 
Confederacy, in the prosecution of which he had many close shaves 
but was never caught. He then entered the Turkish navy, built it 
up and fought against the Russians. The whole book is filled with 
thrilling adventures and narrow escapes. 

LIFE AMONG THE APACHES, by John C. Cremony. 

He was interpreter of the United States Boundary Commission and 
served against the Indians as Major of a Califomia regiment 
during the Civil War. His personal encounters with the Apaches 
were of the most desperate nature. 




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